CHEISTIAN DOCTRINE 



P E A Y E R. 



AN ESSAY. 



By JAMES FREEMAN CLARKE. 



' ^vyrj fiovov irphs top Moi/ov.'* - I. O ^ 



SEVENTH EDITION. 




BOSTON: 
AMERICAN UNITARIAN ASSOCIATION . 
1869. 



Entered according to Act of Conpress, in the year 1854, by 
The Ameeican U^vitatuan Association, 
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massa- 
chusetts. 



" Der Regierung der duroh Menschiiche l-idheit bewegten Welt ist 
tur mbglich durch die Einmrkuug gdttlicher Freiheit. Diese Ein- 
vrirkung giebt den pliilosophischen Begriff des TTunders, welches 
daher nur mit der Torsehung selbst geleugnet werden konnen." — 
Hass, LehrhucJi der Bog7?iatih^ § 150. 



0 21 m 



Uniyersity Press. Cambridge : 
Printed by Welch, Bigelow, and Company. 



63 



PREFACE. 



There are two kinds of Prayer, the Prayer of 
Faith and the Prayer of Form. Men must either 
pray in earnest, because they expect their prayer 
to accomplish something, and ask God for what 
they want just as they would ask any one else, 

— expecting to get it ; and this kind of prayer 
1 call the Prayer of Faith. Or they must pray 
as a matter of propriety, and from a sense of 
duty, — because prayer is beautiful, or because 
prayer is commanded ; and this kind of prayer I 
call the Prayer *of Form. 

Now when people get to praying as a form, 

— a proper, beautiful, excellent form though it 
be, — they will soon leave off praying at all. A 
certain insincerity is felt in such a work. We 
cannot go on with it. 'To speak to God, and ask 
him to give us this and that, — when we all the 
time believe that we shall get it not a whit the 



iv PREFACE. 

sooner for asking, but merely shall put ourselves 
into a better frame of mind, — is not sincere. 
It is not truthful, and honest men cannot do it, 
nor pretend to do it. 

Little children pray the Prayer of Faith. They 
ask God to give them toys and playthings, audi 
they bring their little wants and notions up ir 
their prayers very artlessly and honestly. We 
smile, and sigh that we cannot pray so too. B} 
and by they grow too wise to continue the child 
ish prayer, and, like us, leave off prayer wholly. 

Our ancestors prayed the Prayer of Faith. 
When the wind howled around their lowly huts, 
and the storm rushed darkly from the forests, — 
when the fierce Pequot and the savage Philip 
with his wild tribes of Indians lurked in every 
shaded dell of this fair New England, — when 
the crops failed and they were about to starve, — 
then they wrestled with God in prayer. They 
labored as men labor in ploughing a field, till in 
their agony of supplication they fainted. And 
when the help came, and the full-freighted ship 
sailed up the bay with its white sails spread wide 
like some broad-winged bird, then they believed 
most surely that God sent her in answer to their 
prayer, and no sceptic among them all asked 
concerning the time when she sailed from port. 



PREFACE. 



V 



But some time in the last century there arose 
wise men, — disciples not of Plato nor of St 
Paul, but of Lord Bacon, — men who believed in 
science more than in inspiration, — and they 
could not pray any longer the Prayer of Faith. 
They studied the laws of nature, — they rea- 
soned by induction from effect to cause, — they 
were experimental philosophers. Bishop Berke- 
ley called them in his vexation minute philoso- 
phers. But they were good Christian men, and 
had not the least intention of denying what was 
in the Bible. The Bible said, Pray^ and they 
said, Pray. Moreover, they had learnt to pray 
at their mother's knee, and felt the happiness of 
communing with God, and did not wish to leave 
off prayer. So they said, — "Pray. Not that 
prayer will give you anything you could not 
have had without it. But it will do you good. 
It will give you submission to God's will, pa- 
tience, devout habits, and so forth. Pray, by all 
means, for spiritual things ; for God will give 
you those readily in answer to prayer. But 
above all. Pray without ceasing ; that is, be in a 
spirit of prayer always. Christ uses Oriental fig- 
ures, figures of speech ; he must not be taken too 
literally when he says, ' Believe that ye shall re- 
ceive it, and ye shall have it.' God gives or 



PREFACE. 



withholds according to wise providential laws, 
and not according to our prayers." 

After this doctrine had been laid down, and 
the Prayer of Propriety or Duty or Sentiment 
had taken the place of the Prayer of Faith, men, 
as we said, ceased to pray. They could not 
continue using solemn words to which they at- 
tached no real importance. " No," said they. 
" To work is to pray. Do your duty ; that is the 
effectual prayer of the righteous man. Visit the 
fatherless and widow in their affliction. Keep 
yourself unspotted from the world. That is true 
Christianity ; better than many Sabbath-days full 
of worship ; better than knees stiffened by long 
hours of devotion. He that doeth righteousness 
is righteous, not he who for a pretence makes 
long prayers." 

We live at present in an age saturated with 
these ideas. We live in an age turned wholly 
outward, — an age of science, of steam, of rails, 
and of telegraphs, — an age of cheap postage, 
and of all sorts of devices to make our outward 
life comfortable and joyous. Many run to and 
fro, and knowledge is increased. The Christian- 
ity of the world bears good fruit in attempts to 
mitigate the horrors of barbarous customs, which 
come down unmitigated and unrelieved through 



PREFACE. 



vii 



the ages of faith, — slavery, and war, and pop- 
ular ignorance, pauperism, intemperance, and 
manifold evils. Strong, wise, and good men do 
not now go on their knees and wrestle all night 
with God in prayer ; but they sit up all night by 
their study-table, and marshal hosts of facts into 
such shape as shall convince mankind what a 
mountain of ills they labor under, and how they 
shall throw them off. Good men of to-day — 
the saints of our day — do not dream dreams, see 
visions, commune with angels, they are caught 
up into no third, nor even second heaven ; but 
they visit prisons and penitentiaries, they estab- 
lish hospitals for the blind, deaf, lame, dumb, 
and insane, they labor to elevate public instruc- 
tion, they struggle to make the laws more equi- 
table. And for all these labors let us be thank- 
ful to God, for in them is surely to be found the 
Christian seed ; they are Christ-like works. 

But the effect of these doctrines as regards 
prayer, we see all around in other forms, not so 
good as those. It appears in our empty church^ 
es ; in young men and women deserting the 
house of God, where whole generations used to 
bend together in awe and love, the old man with 
white hair kneeling humbly by the little child 
with silky curls, — where they used to pray in 



viii 



PREFACE. 



earnest^ and go away refreshed at heart and 
stronger for any work, happier for any joy. We 
see it in sermons changed to popular lectures, — 
no longer earnest arguments, -appeals from dying 
men to dying men, but rhetorical essays on some 
theme of philosophy, taste, politics, or social 
utility. We feel it, moreover, in the emptiness 
of our own hearts, in our secret consciousness 
that we are not acting out our highest nature, 
not living for the great end of our being, not 
growing into all that God desires and intends for 
us. We give ourselves to the world, though the 
world does not satisfy us. We labor to do good 
in some way to those about us, but we feel that, 
while we are ourselves empty of spiritual life, we 
can do them no real, no lasting good. 

And look, too, at our philanthropic efforts. 
They are efforts, all of them, in the right direc- 
tion. This age applies Christianity as Christ 
himself would have it applied, and as those ages 
of Faith and Prayer never applied it. I there- 
fore am not looking for salvation in the past. I 
thank God for the immense advances we are 
making, and have made, in a true understanding 
of the Gospel. But with all this light, where is 
the heat ? Where is the energy which once bore 
men from land to land, and heaped them by 



PEEFACE. 



ix 



myriads around an empty grave in Palestine ? I 
stood myself in a pulpit from which Bernard ot 
Clairvaux in 1150 preached the second Crusade, 
" And is it possible," I thought, " that there was a 
power of faith which could carry Europe to per- 
ish on the hot sands of Asia for such an object 
as that, six several times, and that we cannot 
raise a Christian crusade to-day against our own 
great social evils ? There, for example, is slav- 
ery, which turns our fellow-men into things, 
which threatens us with disunion, which tramples 
on the rights of men, which disgraces us before 
the civilized world. We, Philanthropists, when 
all our religion has run into philanthropy, and 
we say to work is to pray^ — what do we ? The 
most we do is to make a few antislavery speech- 
es, hold a few antislavery fairs and picnics, cir- 
culate a few newspapers and tracts, and throw a 
small vote here and there for antislavery repre- 
sentatives. Luther, by himself, a man of faith 
and prayer, shook with his single arm the vast 
power of Rome, till its foundations trembled in 
every country, and its battlements came down in 
ruins through half of Europe. Loyola, another 
man of prayer, came forth, and by his smgle 
voice called out an army of tens of thousands to 
man those broken walls and rebuild those shat- 



X 



PREFACE. 



tered bulwarks. Xavier, and Henry Martyn, and 
Swartz, and Marquette, men of prayer, circle the 
earth in their flaming zeal, and preach the Gospel 
to tens of thousands. How poor a thing is our 
Philanthropy beside their Religion ! But let our 
philanthropy be animated by a religion like theirs, 
— let us not merely say, To work is to 'pray^'^ 
but Fray that we may work^"* — and all their 
exploits, compared with what we may do, will be 
as nothing. 

Every human being is an immortal soul in a 
mortal body. That mortal body in a few years 
will be laid aside, and will have gone to the earth 
whence it came. It is an organ, for a few years, 
through which the undying spiritual force within 
it shall be manifested and shall be developed. 
That spiritual force, that immortal soul, can 
draw its life only from God, its fount of being. 
Without a constant, steady communion with him, 
it is drawn down by its fleshly instrument, it is im- 
mersed in sense, it is buried already in the body 
which itself is to be buried in the grave. Inward, 
toward God, we must go continually for spiritual 
force, — outward, toward man and life, to exer- 
cise it. We must come to know and love God, 
the sum and substance of all spiritual life, or it is 
idle to talk of loving man or doing anything for 



PREFACE. 



xi 



him. We must have, to give. We mjsl drain 
from an eternal fountain, from a well that never 
becomes dry, in order to water the smallest gar- 
den or plot of ground. 

Now, in order to have a real energy of spiritual 
life, we must have actual intercourse with God 
himself. To think about him, to meditate upon 
his works and ways, is one thing ; to commune 
with him, another. And to commune with him, 
we must have something to say to him ; and that 
something must be somethincr out of our actual 
life, something which really interests us, not 
something which we think ought to interest us. 
We m.ust say to God something we wish to say, 
and not something we think we ought to say. 
Our prayer must not be made of supposed pro- 
prieties ; it must be the souPs sincere desire." 
Therefore, God, in order that men may come 
into real communion with him and so receive 
real vital energy, — faith, love, peace, joy, — has 
ordered it so that we may speak to him of our 
real wants, and of all of them, and by an earnest 
petition do something towards realizing those 
wants. Just as, when a man ploughs the ground 
and plants his seed, he cooperates with divine^ 
laws, the natural result of which is a harvest ; so 
when a man prays for any thing he really wants, 
b 



xii 



PREFACE. 



and while he prays endeavors to abide in the 
spirit of Christ and pray out of that, he coop- 
erates with other divine laws, the natural result 
of which is the receiving what he asks. Not al- 
ways, not always, in either case. The man may 
plough and sow, and no crop come ; still, there is 
a tendency in ploughing and sowing to make the 
crop come. A man may pray for his sick child's 
recovery, and the child die nevertheless. But 
there was a tendency in Ms prayer to save his 
child's life. And in many cases, we may rea- 
sonably believe the power of prayer will accom- 
plish what otherwise would not come to pass. 
We may believe that, if all those who are labor- 
ing for the downfall of social evils would work as 
much, and pray for their downfall too, — pray for 
wisdom, courage, faith, humility, with which to 
combat them, — they would speedily yield before 
this union of work and prayer. 

One thing only is to be noticed. There are 
two conditions on which the full answer to prayer 
depends. One is Faith, — that is, to ask in ear- 
nest ; and the other is to abide in Christ, — that 
is, to ask in a Christian spirit. The men who 
have lived in believing ages have not usually 
prayed in a Christian spirit, or with the Christian 
purpose. It was not the kingdom of God they 



PREFACE. 



xlii 



prayed for, but their own success, the triumph of 
their own party, the extermination of heretics. 
Therefore their prayers, not being of those who 
abode in Christ, and his words not abiding in 
them, were ineffectual in obtaining their ends. 
The heretics were not conquered, the tomb of 
Christ did not remain in Christian hands. But 
because they asked in faith, they were them- 
selves filled with energy which enabled them to 
grapple with all the powers of the world, or to 
stand amid flames, praising God. 

But when the day comes that with their faith 
we shall also° ask in the spirit of Christ, with his 
words abiding in our minds and hearts, then not 
only shall we have new powers of soul given to 
us, but we shall see God's kingdom come. We 
shall see' war and slavery and cruelty, all self- 
ish institutions and all wicked customs, crum- 
bling away. We shall see Christ coming to reign 
over a world subdued by the power of Faith and 
Goodness. 

In this treatise v/hich follows, we have attempt- 
ed to set forth some of the reasons of this be- 
lief; we have v/ished to promote and revive the 
spirit of prayer, by showing the truth concerning 
it ; we have endeavored to show how Divine 



xiv 



PREFACE. 



Grace can be paired with Human Freedom, and 
Love be at one witTi Law. We have thus done 
something, we trust, 

" to overrule the hard divorce 
Which parts things Natural and Divine.** 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

PEELIMINAEY. 
B£CT. PAGS 

1. General Survey of the Subject. — Importance of 

Prayer to the Life of the Soul .... 1 

2. Present Tendency to undervalue Prayer . . 5 

3. Spirit of this Age goes "to produce the Sense of 

Obligation rather than of Dependence, and so 
weakens the Spirit of Prayer .... 7 

4. Science, Phrenology, Ethics, and Spiritualism see 

God rather as Law than as Love, and so weak- 
en the Spirit of Prayer .... 9 

5. Two Theories concerning Prayer which weaken 

its Spirit ; — Eirst, that we ought not to pray 
for Temporal Things ; Second, that the only 
Answer to Prayer is its own Peaction . . 14 

6. But the Sight of Divine Law may be united, with 

that of Divine Love, as it was in Jesus Christ 16 

7. To contribute toward this Reconciliation of Faith 

in Order with Eaith in Love, is the Object of 
this Essay . 22 



xvi 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTEK n. 

DOCTRINE OF JESUS AND THE APOSTLES CON- 
CERNING PRAYER. 



8. " Pray in Secret ^ . . . . • .25 

9. " Use no vain Kepetitions " .... 29 

10. Prayer of Faith . . . . . . .35 

11. Persevering Prayer 43 

12. Prayer in the Name of Christ . . . .47 

13. Prayer without ceasing 55 

14. The Lord's Prayer 57 

15. Prayers of Jesus 71 

16. Prayer of Jesus in John xvii 73 

17. The Prayer at Gethsemane .... 78 



CHAPTER m. 

OBJECTIONS TO PRATER. 



18. Metaphysical and Abstract. — The Divine Attri- 

butes 86 

19. Scientific Objections. — Laws of Nature. — 

Combe's Constitution of Man ... 88 

20. Psychological Objections. — Human Freedom . 100 

21. Transcendental Objections . . . . 102 

22. Prayer a Reaction. — Objections to this Theory 105 

23. Prayer should be only for Spiritual Blessings. — 

Objections to this View . ... 109 



CONTENTS. xvii 
CHAPTER IV. 

PREPARATIONS FOR PRAYER. 

24. General Remarks 116 

25. Organic and Psychological Preparations . . 119 

26. Preparation of the Heart 124 

27. Preparation of the Mind 127 

28. Experience. — Out of the Depths . . .134 

CHAPTER V. 

METHODS. 

29. Private Prayer . 141 

30. Family and Social Prayer . . • • • 145 

31. Public Prayer ... ... 147 

32. Liturgic or Extemporaneous . • .158 

33. Stated Times and Spontaneous . , 158 

34. Without Ceasing .163 

35. For What? Topics of Prayer . . .165 

36. To Whom? Object of Prayer . . . .170 

CHAPTER YI. 

MOTIVES AND RESULTS. 

37. Necessity and Advantage 178 

38. Prayer a Duty or a Privilege . . • .182 



xviii 



CONTENTS. 



39. The Holy Spirit 190 

40. Christ in the Heart. — Inward Life . . .192 

41. Christ in the Character. — Moral Culture . 204 

42. Christ in the Church. — Christian Union and Co- 

operation 210 

43. Christ in the World 217 

CHAPTER Yn. 

THE SPIRITUAL LIFE. 

44. The Spiritual Life as the Source of Prayer . . 225 

45. The Soul : its Nature and Capacities . . 226 

46. The Value of the Soul, shown by Five Arguments 230 

47. The Soul's Hidden Life 240 

48. A Hidden Life the Evidence of Sincerity . . 243 

49. The Hidden Life known to God . . . .246 
60. The Natural Man does not discern Spiritual Truth 253 
51. Nature of Sin, and the Absence of a Sense of Sin 266 
62. How Men say they have no Sin . . ,271 
53. Confession of Sin, and its Results . . . 279 

64. The Soul's Assurance 291 

55. The Soul's Content 303 



THE 



CHRISTIAN DOCTUmE OF PRATER. 



CHAPTER I 

PRELIMINARY. 

1. General Survey of the Subject, — Impor* 
tance of Prayer to the Life of the Soul, 

The religious needs of our time seem to re- 
quire a new investigation of the Christian doc- 
trine of Pmyer. On this subject, as on so many- 
others, an unreconciled dispute has long existed 
between the claims of Reason on the one side, 
and those of Faith on the other. The theologi- 
cal problem for the present century is to make 
permanent peace, and not a mere armistice, or 
suspension of hostilities, between these contend- 
mg parties. This peace cannot be effected by 
the triumph of either party, but only by full jus- 
tice being done to the claims of both. Not by 
ignoring or postponing the difficulties, but by 
1 



2 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

fully stating them and fairly meeting them, can 
we now hope for any real progress, any perma- 
nent advance, in theology. Something has al- 
ready been done, at least the foundation of the 
future temple has been laid, in the admission, 
now so universal among enlightened and relig- 
ious men, that there can be no real conflict be- 
tween Faith and Reason. It remains only to ap- 
ply this prmciple, with unshrinking fidelity, to all 
separate questions of theology where the conflict 
still exists unreconciled ; and among these, the 
doctrine concerning Prayer is one of the most 
important. 

This doctrine lies very near the heart of Chris- 
tianity. The two great principles which consti- 
tute the Christian life are those of accountability 
and dependence. Religion has sometimes been 
defined as the sense of obligation toward God ; 
and again, it has been defined as the sense of 
dependence upon God. But if we consider the 
facts of religious experience, we shall see that 
the religious life can in no case come into exist- 
ence but by the marriage of these two principles. 
It IS only from the action and reaction of the two 
upon each other, that the life of religion in the 
soul proceeds. The sense of obligation, without 
the sense of dependence, produces only moral 



PRELIMINARY. 



3 



effort and struggle, — not life and progress. The 
sense of dependence, without the sense of obli- 
gation, produces only the fleeting and effeminate 
moods of pious emotion. But Christianity is 
neither a cold moral effort, on the one hand, nor 
a pious emotion on the other, but a life. It is a 
life in the soul, rooted in conviction, manifesting 
itself in action, bearing the fruits of love and joy. 
It IS activity, conscious yet spontaneous. It is at 
once a happy growth and a determined effort ; 
perpetual progress outward into the universe, to 
meet God more and more fully in the variety of 
his works ; perpetual inward rest in the centre of 
the soul in full communion with the One Alone. 
Now this life is constantly fed at its roots by the 
sight of the Divine Law, which reawakens the 
sense of obligation, and by the sight of the Divine 
Love, which creates anew the sense of depend- 
ence. The law of God rouses the soul to effort ; 
but no sooner is the soul thus led into active ef- 
fort to do God's will, than it becomes aware of 
its weakness. And so it is led into the sense of 
dependence, that by opening itself to God it 
may receive from above the needed power. And 
again, the moment that it finds itself filled with 
new joy, new light, new pov/er, it is moved to 
exert that power in the service of Him who gave 



4 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

it ; and so the sense of power awakens the con- 
viction of responsibility for the use of it. This 
is the natural history of Religion in the soul, — 
the Book of Genesis of the New Creation. 

Hence we see, that, to any real Christian life, 
the sense of dependence is absolutely essential. 
But this in its largest sense is nothing other than 
the act of prayer. Prayer is essentially turning 
to God with the conviction of need, and in full 
reliance that this need can be supplied. Every 
thing else in prayer is outside of this, either as 
its consequence or its preparation ; something 
secondary, or something ancillary. This is its 
heart. But to produce this full reliance which is 
essential to prayer, it is equally essential that we 
should see God as the living God, coming to 
meet the individual soul with special help ac- 
cording to its special needs. We must believe 
not only in God as a Divine Law of universal be- 
nevolence, as a great and bounteous Order of 
creation, but also as bound in a personal and spe- 
cific relation with each individual soul. Without 
this conviction, the sense of dependence is pas- 
sive, and not active. It is resignation, and not 
expectation. It is submission, and not hope. 
And it is only an active, expectant, and hopefu. 
reliance on God which so opens the soul to Him 



TENDENCY TO UNDERVALUE PRATER. 5 

that His life flows into it steadily, and becomes its 
constant strength. 

§ 2. Present Tendency to undervalue Prayer, 

But there are, at the present time, many things 
which go to weaken, where they do not destroy, 
this faith in a living God. There have been ages 
of the world in which this was otherwise ; ages 
which suffered from the opposite tendency ; ages 
which believed rather in a particular than a uni- 
versal Providence. Those were the days of mir- 
acles, visions, and preternatural visitations, — 
ages of Faith, but not ages of Love. They saw 
God inwardly, very near ; as a special, and even 
a partial friend. They did not see him outward- 
ly near, as the universal and impartial Benefac- 
tor and Father. Therefore, these ages of Faith 
have been also ages of cruelty, tyranny, and 
hard selfishness ; in which man has trampled 
upon the rights of his brother. But the world 
has moved round to the opposite side of its orbit, 
and we are now breathing a different spiritual 
atmosphere. We have come to see God, with 
more or less distinctness, as the great Benefactor 
in the outward world : we see his benign provi- 
dence operating for the good of the whole : but 
we have lost, more or less, our confidence in his 
1* 



6 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER* 

living presence. Seeing him as Order, we see 
him in no other way. For such is the limitation 
of the human mind, that every new revelation 
of truth shuts out, for the time, some other truth ; 
as the rising of the sun, while it reveals the earth, 
hides the stars. Thus the very manifestations 
of God in nature, in providence, in human his- 
tovj^ and in the human soul, inevitably make it 
more difficult to retain the faith, so natural to 
former ages, in God as a living God, who hears 
and answers prayer, and who meets the soul 
more than half-way. The spirit of the age is in 
the air we breathe. It can only be shut out by 
the natural barriers of ignorance, or the artificial 
defence of that exclusive spirit which shuts its 
eyes to every thing not in its own creed. But 
such a will- worship, while it loses the advantages 
of its own time, cannot effectually regain those 
of the past. It is only the device of the ostrich, 
which hides its head in the ground in order not 
to see the danger. Despite such precautions, the 
danger is at hand ; and it is better to look it in 
th^ face. 



OBLIGATION AND DEPENDENCE. 



7 



§ 3. Spirit of this Age goes to produce the Sense 
of Obligation rather than of Dependence^ and 
so weakens the Spirit of Prayer, 

What, then, are the ideas which, at the pres- 
ent time, tend in many to destroy, and m all to 
weaken, the conviction that God really hears and 
answers prayer, and thus, instead of the prayer 
of Faith, leaves us only the prayer of propriety, 
of duty, of sentiment, or of superstition. It is 
unquestionably the case, that, wherever the ideas 
and the culture of the present age have gone, 
that part of Christianity which consists in the 
spirit of dependence is not in equipoise with the 
other side, which consists in conscientious effort 
and the sense of duty. There is more of moral- 
ity than of piety ; more of conscience than of 
faith ; more of duty than of devotion ; more of 
obedience than of prayer. Men speak of duty 
and of responsibility easily and naturally, as of 
a part of their common life. If they speak of 
prayer, it is in tones of formality, as of some- 
thing unnatural and far off, away from actual ex- 
perience. Travellers to the East are struck and 
awed by the spirit of pure devotion often found 
subsisting with the superstitions of heathenism. 
In Purmah and Hindostan the people are seen 



8 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER, 

with their faces to the ground, absorbed in the 
depths of prayer, inattentive to all that is passing 
around them. In all Mohammedan lands, when 
the hour of prayer sounds from the mosque or 
minaret, at morning, at noon, or at the evening 
twilight, all business is momently suspended. 
The trader leaves his bargain incomplete and 
spreads his carpet on the floor of his shop, the 
sailor on the Nile falls prostrate on the deck, 
and if you enter the mosque, so silent that you 
thought it empty, you find it filled with absorbed 
worshippers. Pass into Roman Catholic coun- 
tries, and already there is less of devotion than in 
Mohammedan countries, but more than in Prot- 
estant ; and in Protestant communities, the most 
enlightened, and perhaps we may add the most 
moral sects, are the least devout and prayerful. 
Why is it, that, as the scale of devotion rises, 
that of morality should sink, when we all believe 
that they belong together.^ Why is it that the 
most cultivated sects among the Protestants 
should be the most moral and the least devout, 

— that Protestants generally should have more 
of morality and less of piety than the Catholics, 

— that the Catholics should have more of moral- 
ity and less of piety than the Mohammedans, and 
that perhaps the same law may apply to the re- 



SCIENCE AND DEVOTION. 



9 



lation between the monotheistic Mohammedans 
and the polytheists of the East? Various an- 
swers may be given, but one reason at least is 
this : that those views of God held in our age by 
the most cultivated tend to produce a greater de- 
velopment of the conscience and the sense of 
obligation than of the sense of dependence ; and 
that those communities and nations, therefore, 
which partake most fully of the spirit of this time, 
partake also more fully both of its advantages 
and of its disadvantages. 

§ 4. Science, Phrenology, Ethics, and Spirit- 
ualism see God rather as Law than as Love^ 
and so weaken the Spirit of Prayer. 

But let us examine more particularly those 
views prevailing among ourselves which tend 
either to prevent or to weaken the prayer of 
faith. All proceed from the same idea, funda- 
mental in modern culture, which regards God's 
goodness in Order, rather than his love in Free- 
dom. But while the essential view is ever the 
same, a view in which the prominence of Law 
conceals Love, it takes different forms, accord- 
ing to the pursuits and tendencies of individuals. 
Thus we have at least four classes of thinkers, 
all earnest and influential, the tendency of whose 



10 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

pursuits is to destroy all conviction in the reality 
of an answer to prayer. First, there are men 
science, students of matter, penetrating in every 
direction amid the tangled phenomena of the ma- 
terial universe, searching always for facts and 
laws. These are always passing from general 
statements to statements still more general, al- 
ways, by the necessity of their studies, removing 
further and further God's free creative act. We 
do not complain of this, still less do we approve 
of the charge of Atheism or of Pantheism 
brought against this mental tendency to substi- 
tute a more comprehensive law in place of the 
original creative act. If it could be shown that 
all the multitudinous varieties of minerals, vege- 
tables, and animals in the world are but develop- 
ments, by the operation of constant laws, out of 
an original nebula, this would not be atheism, 
nor any thing resemblmg it. ' For a law is noth- 
ing else than regularity of action ; and when we 
say thai every thing comes by law, we may 
merely say that every thing comes by God's reg- 
ular and orderly activity. God is as necessary 
to carry on his laws, as to originate them ; and 
there is as much wisdom, po%er, and goodness 
shown in developing a universe by a regular 
process, out of a nebulous mass, as in producing 



PHRENOLOGY. 



11 



it by successive creative acts. We do not, there- 
fore, complain that men of science steadily 
search after law, and behind the broadest law 
look for another still more general. We do not 
regret, but rejoice in, the tendency to see more 
and more of God as he manifests himself in the 
order of the universe. We merely say, " This 
ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other 
undone," We merely insist that this tendency 
becomes in practice an exclusive tendency ; and 
that the attraction toward the idea of God as 
Law becomes an intellectual aversion from the 
idea of God as Freedom. Hence, among men 
of science everywhere, the tendency always is 
to a reluctance of belief in the supernatural and 
miraculous part of religion ; that is, to God 
acting as Freedom, whether in creation, in provi- 
dence, in historical Christianity, or in religious 
experience. Secondly, next to men of science 
who are students of law in the material uni- 
verse, come those who study the natural laws of 
man, among whom the Phrenologists hold at 
the present time an influential and important 
place. Phrenology, opposed alternately by ridi- 
cule and arguni^nt, has, in spite of both, made 
steady progress, and may almost be considered 
an established science. No candid man, even 



12 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

among those who disbelieve it, but may see rea- 
son to believe that it has done great good. It has 
called the attention of thousands to self-study and 
self-knowledge. It has shown them their weak- 
ness and their strength, — their peculiar tempta- 
tions and their special capabilities. It has direct- 
ed attention to the care of health, to mental dis- 
cipline, to wise self-government, and especially to 
the immense results of education. Meantime, 
however, its tendency has been to teach human 
prudence rather than divine providence. All 
special providence it questions or denies ; and a 
direct answer to prayer, to an earnest phrenolo- 
gist, seems very often an absurdity. This is ow- 
ing to the same cause as in the former case, the 
one-sidedness and exclusiveness belonging to the 
fixed contemplation of a single subject. There 
is nothing in Phrenology inconsistent with a full 
belief in Divine interposition, in a full belief of 
creation, miracles, providence, and the power of 
prayer. But as a matter of fact, in the present 
stage of this study, it operates like the. study of 
science ; and, recognizing the God of Law, it ig- 
nores the God of Freedom. Thirdly, the Moral- 
ists and Rationalists are led to depreciate the 
free influence of God in answering prayer : the 
former, by the stress they lay on human freedom ; 



SPIRITUALISM. 



13 



the latter, by the fact that every free act, whether 
of God or man, is, from the nature of the case, 
insusceptible of explanation. Human freedom is 
a matter of consciousness, and therefore is not 
often denied by the Rationalist on account of its 
essentially unintelligible nature. But Divine free- 
dom, of which we are not conscious, which is a 
matter of deduction, and not of intuition, is often 
virtually relinquished by the Rationalist for this 
reason, as we shall see more fully hereafter. 
The Moralist, on the other hand, believing very 
fully in human freedom, fears lest its sphere 
should be too much limited if the Deity be re- 
garded as exercising direct influence on the soul, 
or as giving except in accordance with well- 
ascertained laws. Fourthly, the Spiritualist 
finds it also difficult to believe in a direct answer 
to prayer, because, while spiritualizing all of 
nature, and filling the world full of God, the ten- 
dency of his mind is to regard God as a Nature 
rather than as a Person. In all of these classes 
of thinkers, there is a tendency to deny any real, 
personal intercourse between the soul and God, 
and consequently to cease from the prayer of 
faith. Cultivating that side of the religious life 
which consists in active conformity wdth the Di- 
vine law, or passive acquiescence in it, they lose 

2 



14 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER.' 

that side which consists in active dependence on 
the Divine grace, — that is, on God's free love. 

§ 5. Two Theories concerning Prayer which 
weaken its Spirit ; — Firsts that we ought not 
to j^ray for Tempo'^al Things ; Second^ that the 
only Answer to Prayer is its own Reaction, 

The cases in which these intellectual tenden- 
cies lead to a denial of a direct answer to Prayer 
are few compared with those in which they dis- 
qualify for believing in it. Our minds are so 
pervaded, so saturated, with the thoughts of our 
age and community, that they affect us uncon- 
sciously and involuntarily. Where they do not 
produce distinct convictions, they produce a ten- 
dency to believe or to disbelieve quite out of our 
power to control. Multitudes, therefore, who 
theoretically believe in Prayer, find it very hard 
to pray ; the reason being, that their minds are 
filled with views and opinions practically incon- 
sistent with all faith in any answer to Prayer. 
Thus, they find themselves in that uncomfortable 
state of mind in which their theoretical belief 
indicates one course of conduct, while their prac- 
tical belief leads to another. Such a state of 
things is too uncomfortable to be borne long ; for 
the mind of man is very logical, and always 



TWO THEORIES OF PRAYER. 



15 



struggles for consistency. Finding it, therefore, 
hard to reconcile our conduct with our theories, 
we are apt, sooner or later, to modify our theo- 
ries to suit our conduct. The result in the case 
before us has be 3n the production of two theories 
concerning Prayer ; the first of which declares 
that the object of Prayer should be only inward 
and spiritual blessings ; and the other, that the 
only advantage of Prayer consists in its reaction 
on the soul to produce Christian states of mind. 
These theories we shall consider more fully here- 
after. At present, we will merely remark, that 
the first tends to prevent Prayer by greatly limit- 
ing its sphere, and the second, by limiting its 
motive. Placed as we are, by the necessity of 
our earthly life, in the midst of earthly interests, 
a large part of our wishes, hopes, and efforts 
necessarily refer to these. If these wishes and 
hopes are not to be brought before God in Pray- 
er, a large part of our life is at once excluded 
from its domain. In the best of men nine tenths 
of his waking hours are occupied with thoughts 
and hopes bearing on earthly objects. If these 
may be brought before God, then are they sanc- 
tified and purified in the a3t of Prayer. But if 
not, and he must only asK for spiritual things, 
then all this part of his true life is divorced from 



16 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINL 3F PRATER. 

God. Thus the sphere of Prayer is very much 
limited by the first theoiy. And if, according to 
the second, one can only pray for the sake of 
the reaction from his own prayer, and not in the 
expectation of positive help from God, we see at 
once how much of the motive to pray is sub- 
tracted. And as this method of self-impjove- 
meiit is a very awkward and unnatural one, and 
involves a certain insincerity, it must often hap- 
pen that one shall renounce this method of mag- 
netizing himself by Prayer, and adopt the more 
natural one of meditation and self-communion. 
We cannot wonder, therefore, if, where these 
theories prevail, the amount of Prayer should 
grow smaller and smaller continually, till it 
reaches its minimum. A sense of duty or pro- 
priety, or the instinctive sentiment of reverence, 
or the power of habit and association, may in- 
duce many to continue the custom of daily pray- 
er ; but its spring and motive force will be gone. 

§ 6. But the Sight of Divine Law may be united 
with that of Divine Love^ as it was in Jesus 
Christ, 

If, then, the tendency of our age is to contem- 
plate the Deity rather in the regularity of his laws 
han in the free movement of his love, what re- 



UNION OF LAW AND LOVE. 17 

mains for us to do ? Shall we resist this tenden- 
cy, and, to secure the advantages which come 
from prayer, renounce the light of our own time 
and culture, and turn backward to the ideas of 
the past ? Not this ; for this is to war against 
the providence of God, and to renounce those 
blessings which he intends the world to reap from 
the study of his thoughts, as they are unfolded in 
the vast order of the universe. Shall we then 
submit to this tendency without a struggle, and 
consider it necessary that, in order to meet God 
without, we must renounce his society within ? 
Not so ; for all human progress consists in carry- 
ing on with us in every new advance the whole 
acquisition of the past. Whenever we drop any 
thing by the way, we must, sooner or later, stop 
and return to recover it. It only remains, then, 
to gain that higher platform where Science and 
Faith may be united, and the knowledge of Di- 
vine Law harmonized with convictions of the Di- 
vine Love. It is not necessaiy that these should 
be separated. They have been from the first 
united in individuals ; and the tendency of all 
Christian progress is a prophecy that they shall 
be hereafter united in communities, in churches, 
and, at last, in universal Christian experience. 
The grandeur of Christ's character consists in its 
2* 



18 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

being the highest harmony of all antagonist ele- 
ments ever attained by man ; that is, that in him 
dwelt the fulness of the Godhead bodily. In him 
this fulness was entire, making a perfect harmo- 
ny, — a harmony which, from its very perfection, 
prevents our recognizing the distinct tones of 
which it is composed. Less perfect characters, 
whom we yet admire for the fulness and royal 
balance of their virtues, show their greatness by 
passing from one virtue into its opposite. One 
act of life shows courage ; another, prudence. 
One utterance expresses their deep sense of the 
value of truth ; another, the largeness of their 
human sympathy. From moods of noble pride 
ihey pass into states of tender humility. They 
give one hour to devout worship of God ; the 
next, to earnest labor for the good of man. Thus 
we see in the alternations of their life faith 
matched with works, zeal with charity, piety with 
humanity, moods of contemplation with hours of 
action ; and we feel that in this large experience 
they have developed their whole nature, and done 
justice to all sides of life. But the peculiarity of 
Jesus was, that he carried this fulness into every 
act. His zeal was wisdom ; his truth, love ; his 
self-respect, humility ; his courage, caution ; his 
piety, humanity ; and therefore it is more diffi- 



JESTJS. 



19 



cult to distinguish these different traits than in a 
nature less truly harmonious. So we can distin- 
guish the separate colors only in the sunbeam 
broken in the spectrum, and not in the white, un- 
divided solar ray. Yet one may notice in Jesus 
that he always saw in God both Law and Love. 
His teaching, indeed, nowhere assumes the form 
of science ; and it was no part of his purpose tc 
announce the laws of the physical universe. Bu 
in his whole teaching, if we regard it closely, we 
shall find him making a statement of the spirit- 
ual and moral laws of human nature, human life, 
and human destiny. It has been usual to regard 
many passages of this sort as promises, or threat- 
enings. But they are, in fact, simple statements 
of the everlasting laws of God's moral universe, 
laws which are rooted in the very nature of God 
himself. Thus, in the Sermon on the Mount, 
what are the Beatitudes but statements of these 
Divine laws. When he says, " Blessed are the 
poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heav- 
en," — " Blessed are the meek, for they shall in- 
herit the earth," — " Blessed are the merciful, for 
they shall obtain mercy," — Blessed are the 
pure in heart, for they shall see God," — he is not 
promising blessings with which he intends to re- 
ward his followers, but rather announcing facts 



20 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

which are eternally true. So again, v/hen he 
says, " Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his 
righteousness, and all these things shall be addea 
unto you," he states a law, the working of which 
we may see every day in the lives of those who, - 
because they devote themselves altogether to the 
good of others, find multitudes in return ready to 
take care of them, and of their necessities. So 
when he says, " He that hum.bles himself shall 
be exalted," — He that findeth his life shall lose 
it, and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find 
it," — " Whosoever hath, to him shall be given," 
— "Give, and it shall be given unto you," — 
" Nothing is secret that shall not be manifest," — 
" There is nothing covered that shall not be re ' 
vealed," — Many are called, but few chosen,' 
, — "He that is faithful in the least, is faithful in 
much," — " No man can ^erve two masters," — 
' He that belie veth on me hath everlasting life," — 
and the like, — he is stating, not special, partial, oi 
temporary facts, but everlasting laws^ of universal 
application. These depend, not on the will of 
Christ, nor even on the icill of God, but belong 
to God's most essential nature. Thus we see that 
Jesus recognized fully, and revealed plainly, God 
as Law ; but, on the other hand, it was his spu 
cial work to see and manifest God as a frt 



JESUS. 



21 



movement of Love. Never were the laws of 
God's holy nature revealed in the same degree els 
they were by Jesus ; but his revelation of the Di- 
vine grace was one not only new in its degree, 
but peculiar in its kind. Jesus saw in God, not 
only perfect law, but perfect freedom, — Freedom, 
not acting against Law, not suspending or nulli- 
fying Law, but manifesting itself in a coordinate 
series of events and Divine acts, which, because 
they originate thus, are strictly miraculous or su- 
pernatural. Of these Divine acts of freedom, the 
coming of Jesus himself was the chief ; for Jesus 
was not a result of human development, but the 
coming of a new life from above into the race. 
Humanity did not develop itself into Jesus, but 
the love of God came bito the world to meet 
man's needs in the hour of his birth. All other 
miracles of the New Testament are secondary to 
this. They are the natural consequences of this 
supernatural event ; and because Jesus himself 
fully recognized this fact, he stood always in that 
filial relation to the Deity which made him the 
Son of God. Because this conviction expressed 
itself continually in his life and words, he has 
brought others to God as a Father. He has thus 
made it possible for us to pray both in spirit and 
in truth ; and it is thus that, when we have seen 
him, we have seen the Father. 



22 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

^ 7. To contribute toward this Reconciliation of 
faith in Order with faith in Love^ is the Ob- 
ject of this Essay, 

Since, therefore, we find in Jesus a perfect 
union of faith in God as Law, and faith in God els 
Love, and since it is the destiny of his Church, 
sooner or later, to " come in the unity of the faith 
and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a 
perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of 
the fulness of Christ," and in " all things to grow 
up into him which is the head," we must antici- 
pate that " the hour is coming, and now is, when 
the true worshippers shall worship the Father in 
spirit and in truth." The time must come in 
which we shall worship God both as Law and as 
Love, in which we shall combine, with full con- 
viction of the universal order of things, a sense 
of the personal nearness of the Father to hear and 
answer our prayers. Science and Faith shall 
then walk hand in hand, and the result of this will 
be a deeper strain of piety and a higher power of 
prayer than any yet known. For when all these 
antagonisms shall have been reconciled, no secret 
doubt will weaken the energy of supplication ; no 
dread of superstition chill the fervor of filial love. 
Prayer, made calm by the conviction, of its har- 



OBJECT OF THIS TREATISE. 



23 



mony with Law, will flow through the Christian's 
life as a majestic stream, without haste and with- 
out check. We see in Jesus what calmness and 
equanimity his piety derived from this full har*- 
mony of conviction ; and so will it also be with 
his Church. The most fervent prayers of rapt 
saints and solitary anchorites will be weak and 
faltering when compared with the unceasing sac- 
rifice of devotion which shall ascend from the 
Christian Church Universal when it shall celebrate 
the nuptials of Science and Faith. 

It is the object of this treatise to do something 
to hasten this great consummation. By a new 
investigation of the subject, by a faithful exami- 
nation of the facts, and a distinct statement of the 
question, by fairly seeing the objections and fully 
admitting the difficulties, we may at least hope to 
take the first step in the right direction. For the 
law of intellectual progress demands that the op- 
position of antagonist truths shall be fully devel- 
oped, that contradictions must be fully stated, 
and eyery diversity and variety brought distinctly 
out, before there can be a final reconciliation. In 
this Essay, therefore, I propose to examine first 
the doctrine of Jesus and of his Apostles concern- 
ing Prayer. Next, to consider the examples of 



24 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

Prayer in the New Testament. Afterwards, to 
investigate the difficulties, metaphysical and sci- 
entific, and the conflict between the needs of the 
intellect and the needs of the soul. Finally, we 
may consider the methods of Prayer, its helps 
and conditions, its results and advantages. The 
work is a great one, and needs, as Socrates said, 
a Delian diver. If it be the Divine will, we shall 
reach the bottom and bring up pearls ; but if not, 
and the time is not ripe, or the instrument not - 
worthy of this success, even a present failure 
may be made the means of a better result here- 
after. 



25 



CHAPTER II. 

DOCTRINE OF JESIJS AND THE APOSTLES CON- 
CEENING PRAYER. 

§ 8. Pray in Secret^ 

Matt. vi. 5, 6. " And when thou prayest, thou 
shalt not be as the hypocrites are ; for they love 
to pray standing in the synagogues and in the 
corners of the streets, that they may be seen of 
men. Verily I say unto you, they have their 
reward. 

" But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy 
closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to 
thy Father which is in secret ; and thy Father 
which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly." 

This passage is the first of importance in the 
New Testament in which Jesus gives instruction 
concerning Prayer. The substance of it is, 
" Pray m secret." But we must ask, first. What 
is meant by this command ? and second, Why is 
it given ? considering first the meaning, and 



26 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

secondly the reason, of the passage. Does it 
mean, then, as the language by itself would cer- 
tainly imply, that we are always to pray in se- 
cret, always in the closet, and consequently that 
all public prayer and public worship is unchris- 
tian and wrong ? That this is not meant by Je- 
sus appears evidently from the fact that he him- 
self prayed sometimes alone (Luke vi. 12, 13), 
sometin.es in the presence of his three most mti- 
x-nate disciples (Matt. xxvi. 37, 39), sometimes in 
ihe presence of the Twelve (John xvii. 1-26), 
and sometimes, also, in the presence of the Jews 
(John xi. 41, 42 ; xii. 27, 28). Moreover, the 
Apostles, after his death, were in the habit of 
praying together in the Church (Acts ii. 42; 
i. 14 ; xii. 5, 12), and went to pray in the Tem- 
ple at the hour of prayer (Acts iii. 9), and to the 
synagogues (Acts xvi. 16), no less than alone 
(Acts X. 9). Beside this, Jesus seems to promise 
a special blessing upon united prayer (Matt, xviii. 
19, 20). These passages show that in this place, 
as in so many others, the literal meaning is not 
the true meaning, and that the letter must be 
modified according to the spirit, the context, oth- 
er passages, and the great current of Christian 
doctrine. The passage, therefore, may mean, 
first, that it is wise and well often to pray alone 



PEAYEK IN SECRET. 



27 



fits a test of our own sincerity and simplicity, in 
order to shut off outward, distracting influences, 
and to escape all thought of the opinions of oth- 
ers. Secret prayer is thus the best test of sin- 
cerity, of the reality of our faith, and the purity 
of our motive. He who can pray earnestly and 
happily alone may at least be sure of this, that 
his motive is not to be seen of men, that he does 
not pray because others expect it of him, or con- 
sider it his duty, or will think better of him be- 
cause of it. But he who prays only in public, 
and never in private, has reason to think that his 
motives are wholly drawn from regard to the 
opinions of others. And, secondly, the precept 
may mean, that, when we pray in the presence 
of others, we should not pray in order to be seen 
of them, but should even then go into the secret 
closet and inmost sanctuary of the soul, and be 
alone with God. 

The reason and importance of this commana 
thus understood are obvious. So closely are we 
bound together, so much are we influenced by 
the opinions of those around us, so great a part 
of the motive force of life is derived from this 
source, that there is constant danger of its ab- 
sorbing all other motives into itself. We can 
only escape this immense pressure by going 



28 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 



apart sometimes and standing alone in the pres 
ence of God. If regard to human opinion taints 
even the solitudes of prayer, the salt has lost its 
savor ; and the last fortress in the soul has been 
occupied by the Prince of this world. ^Ve see 
m the histor}- of the Church how, notwithstanding 
Christ's command, public prayer has encroached 
upon secret prayer. Prayer in church has taken 
the place of prayer at home ; prayer command- 
ed by the priest, and reported to him again, has 
been substituted for the hidden intercourse with 
God. We see how prayer has been made a 
source of gratifying human vanity ; how proud 
men have been of their gifts in prayer ; how 
they have been praised for being powerful in 
prayer, eloquent in prayer, for making fen-ent 
and beautiful prayers, and the like. Again, we 
see prayer made a means of rebuking error, or 
of exhorting to piety ; a weapon of attack, or a 
sermon. Men have prayed against heresies or 
errors, supposed to be held by those present ; 
prayed for the conversion, or even for the danr 
nation, of their opponents; and all this in order 
to influence the by-standers. These things show 
what a tendency there is to address the prayer to 
the congregation rather than to God, and how 
necessarv^ still is this precept at the present day 



TAIN REPETITIONS. 



29 



The reasons for public and social prayer we shall 
consider in another place ; but in closing our re- 
marks on this passage, let us say that the pro- 
portion of prayer should be, that the least amount 
of it should be in public in mixed congregations, 
a larger amount in social Christian prayer among 
chose who can all agree together and truly sym- 
pathize as to the object, and that the largest por- 
tion of a Christian's prayers should be alone. 
For public prayer must be expressed in general 
terms which are brief, and for those few general 
objects in which all can agree. Social Christian 
prayer can enter into a greater variety of par- 
ticulars, and therefore be more full, since Chris- 
tian brethren have at heart the same objects. But 
in secret prayer, every part of individual life and 
individual thought may be brought before God ; 
for to him nothing is common or unclean : and 
thus, whether in thankfulness, contrition, suppli- 
cation, or intercession ; whether at stated hours 
or during all the moments of life , whether when 
alone or engaged in affairs ; whether uttered or 
unexpressed ; the sincere desire of the sou^ may 
continually ascend in secret to God, 

§ 9. " Use no vain Repetitions,'^^ 

Matt. vi. 7, 8. " But when ye pray, use not 
3 * 



30 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

vain repetitions, as the heathen do ; for they think 
that they shall be heard for their much speaking. 

" Be not ye therefore like unto them ; for your 
Father knoweth what things ye have need of, be- 
fore ye ask him." 

The vain repetitions referred to here as usual 
among the heathen, consisted partly in saying 
the same thing over and over again, and partly 
in unsuitable, minute, and protracted narrations 
addressed to God. Thus (1 Kings xviii. 26), the 
priests of Baal called on the name of Baal " even 
until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us." Thus 
(Acts xix. 34) the Ephesians cried out for two 
hours, " Great is Diana of the Ephesians." The 
Latin dramatist Terence makes one of his char- 
acters say, " O wife, cease at last deafening the 
Gods with your prayers. You seem to think 
them like yourself, able to understand nothing 
unless it is said a hundred times over." So, 
likewise, the Boodhists use a rosary with beads, 
by which to mark the number of times they have 
repeated their prayers. In the Zendavesta, or 
liturgic books of the ancient Persians, the pe- 
titions to Ormuzd, to the Amschaspands, to the 
sacred Hom, &c., are multiplied and repeated 
without end. In the use of the Roman Catholic. 



BREVITY IN PRAYER. 31 

rosaiT, the Paternoster is repeated fifteen times 
and the Ave Maria one hundred and fifty. If 
we ask, then, Does Jesus mean to teach that 
there shall be no repetition in prayer, we are 
immediately reminded that he himself repeated 
the same prayer three times in the garden of 
Gethsemane. Moreover, he himself commands 
repetition in two parables (Luke xi. 5-8, xviii. 
1-7), and, as we shall see hereafter, persever- 
ing prayer is wholly in the spirit of Christ. This 
command, therefore, does not forbid us to make 
the same request again and again. It does not 
forbid repetition either of the thoughts or the 
words. But it forbids two things : first, vain or 
empty repetitions, in which the form alone re- 
mains, without the heart or the thought being 
in it ; — and secondly, it forbids repetition as an 
opus operatum ; that is, as something advanta- 
geous from the mere outward act, without respect 
to its inward life. Other things being equal, it 
also recommends, by implication, brevity in pray- 
er (according to Ecclesiastes v. 2) : " God is in 
heaven, and thou on earth ; therefore let thy 
words be few ; for a fool's voice is known by 
multitude of words." Martin Luther says, Few 
words and much meaning is Christian ; many 
words and little meaning is heathenish.'' And 



32 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

no doubt, in proportion as a prayer is sincere 
spiritual, and earnest, it is brief, direct, and com- 
pact with meaning. In proportion as the thoughts 
are wandering, and the desire faint, words are 
multiplied, and the same thing repeated over ana 
over in a new form. 

We shall see the importance of this command 
by considering what a tendency there is to sub- 
stitute words for thouorhts in addressinor God. 
One of the hardest things for man is mental 
concentration ; one of the easiest, repetition of 
a familiar, customary act. It is Coleridge, we 
think, who somew^here speaks of prayer as the 
highest intellectual effort of which man is capable. 
This, it is true, is but one view of the subject ; 
for prayer is essentially spontaneous and free, 
and so it is just as true to speak of it as the easi- 
est, as to call it the most difficult of intellectual 
exercises. When we speak of it as difficult, we 
refer to the preparation for prayer rather than to 
prayer itself. The difficulty and the effort con- 
sist in that concentration of the mind which re- 
moves it from outward objects, from things seen 
and temporal, and fixes it inwardly on the living 
God, unseen and eternal. This being done, and 
the soul laid open before God, prayer flows forth 
a spontaneous stream. Thus it is a work of labor 



PRAYER OF FORM. 



33 



to cut a channel, or outlet, for the waters of a 
lake ; but when the channel has been prepared, 
the work is done, and the waters pour forth by a 
spontaneous motion. 

But this preparation of mind, implying an act 
of concentration, of truthful introspection and of 
trust, is always a new effort of moral freedom ; a 
new movement, oriorinatino; in the free-will of 
man. This is so much more difficult than any 
act of routine, that there is a constant tendency, 
crrowincr out of the inertia of human nature, to 
substitute formal prayer, or the outward work, 
for inward prayer, which needs this creative act. 
Hence, quantity of prayer takes the place of qual- 
ity ; regularity in the outward act, conformity to 
the established custom, external assiduity in ritual 
worship, is considered, on all hands, satisfactory. 
Not that any religion omits teaching that the 
mind should be engaged in prayer, but by the 
chief stress being laid on the outward act, the in- 
v/ard element of prayer is virtually passed by. 
Hence it is, that, where there is the greatest 
amount of outward prayer, there is often the least 
amount of Christian character. It is because the 
outward act is substituted for the inward spirit, 
and men are satisfied with the form of religion 
without its power. 



34 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTEINE OF PRATER. 

The inward part of prayer, which is its es- 
sence, belongs, as we have seen, to the domain 
of Love and Freedom. The outward part of 
prayer, which is only a preparation for it, and not 
the thing itself, belongs to the domain of Effort 
and Duty. In proportion, therefore, as we incul- 
cate prayer as a duty, instead of offering it as a 
privilege and Divine gift, we change the essential 
nature of prayer, destroy its life, and substitute 
something else in its place. We have already 
seen that the Christian life consists of two parts, 
by whose mutual alternation and reaction it is 
maintained, which we have called the sense of 
responsibility and the sense of dependence, and 
which are awakened, the one by the sight of 
Law, the other by the sight of Love. Now it is 
evident that, in proportion as we inculcate, prayei 
as a duty, we transfer it from the domain of Love 
to that of Law, and thereby despoil it of its true 
life and value. Moreover, we change it, almost 
necessarily, into an opus operatum ; for the char- 
acter of all duty is that it shall be done at all 
events ; done well if we can do it well, but at any 
rate be done. It is a duty to tell the truth : it is 
a duty to be honest in our business dealings. It 
is desirable to do these duties in a right spirit, but 
we must do them in a bad spirit rather than not 



PRAYER OF FAITH. 



35 



at all. In the case of duty, therefore, the essen- 
tial thing is the outward act, — the opus opera* 
turn. But exactly the opposite is the case with 
prayer ; the essential part of which is the inward 
spirit of it. It is better not to pray at all than to 
pray in a wrong, unchristian, disbelieving, selfish 
spirit. We see, therefore, that if we treat prayer 
as duty rather than privilege, as effort rather than 
joy, as accountability rather than dependence, we 
are in danger of making of it that opus operatum 
which is forbidden by Christ in the text we have 
been considering. 

§ 10. Prayer of Faith. 

Matt. xxi. 22. " And all things whatsoever ye 
shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive." 

Mark xi. 23, 24. And Jesus answering 
saith unto them. Have faith in God ; for verily I 
say unto you, that whosoever shall say unto this 
mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into 
the sea, and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall 
believe that those things which he saith shall 
come to pass, he shall have whatsoever he saith. 
Therefore I say unto you, what things soever ye 
desire when ye pray, believe that ye shall receive 
them and ye shall have therr ." 

Mark ix. 23. " Jesus said unto him, If thou 



36 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

canst believe, all things are possible to him that 
believeth." 

Matt. vii. 7. " Ask, and it shall be given you ; 
seek, and ye shall find ; knock, and it shall be 
opened unto you : for every one that asketh re- 
ceiveth ; and he that seeketh findeth ; and to him 
that knocketh it shall be opened." (Compare 
LtJKE xi. 1 - 13.) 

In these passages, Christ commands and en- 
courages the Prayer of Faith. The promise is 
wholly unlimited and unconditional. Whatever 
we ask in faith, we shall receive. But we have 
seen that other equally unlimited statements must 
necessarily find their conditions in other declara- 
tions of Jesus made elsewhere. Taking, there 
fore, the unconditional promise in Matt. vii. 7, 8 
" Ask, and it shall be given you, for eveiy one 
that asketh rec.eiveth," — we find that it is imme- 
diately limited in the eleventh verse, that we 
must ask for good things " ; or, as Luke xi. 13 
explains it, for " the Holy Spirit," or spiritual 
goodness. But, again, the promise is limited by 
those other passages which require that it shall be 
the Prayer of Faith. It is not enough to ask, but 
we must ask in faith. Again, it is limited (John 
xiv. 13) by the condition that we shall ask " in 



PR/YER OF FAITH. 



37 



the name of Christ " ; which is also repeated 
(John xvi. 23, 24, 26). Again, there seems an- 
other condition implied (1 John iii. 22), that we 
shall ask m a spirit of obedience : " Whatsoever 
we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep his 
commandments, and do those things that are 
pleasing in his sight." So, also, James (iv. 3) says, 
" Ye ask and receive not, because ye ask amiss, 
that ye may consume it upon your lusts " ; and 
(chap. V. 16) he declares that it is the prayer of 
" a righteous man " which is energetic and avail- 
ing. So, also (Matt. vi. 15 and Mark xi. 25), it 
is declared that our prayer for forgiveness will not 
be heard except we also forgive our enemies. 
Moreover (Luke xviii. 1), he makes perseverance 
in prayer another condition of its being heard 
(compare verse 7), and in the same chapter, verse 
14, humility is taught to be a condition of forgive- 
ness : and, finally (John xv. 7), we read, " If ye 
abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall 
ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." 
By comparing together all these passages, we find 
that Jesus earnestly recommends prayer as the 
means of obtaining blessings which we should not 
otherwise receive ; but teaches that, in order that 
the prayer shall be effectual, it must have three 
qualities. First, it must be true or sincere ; that 

4 



38 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

is, we must ask for what we really wish. Second, 
It must be in faith ; that is, we must believe that 
God will be more likely to give because we ask 
than otherwise. Third, it must be in the spirit of 
Christ, which includes all the other conditions 
above enumerated. Now, we shall consider here- 
after the meaning and necessity of these three 
conditions of effectual prayer. At present, we 
are only concerned with the second, which is the 
Prayer of Faith ; and with that only so far as to 
learn what Jesus intended by it. 

What, then, are we to understand by the Pray- 
er of Faith ? We have seen that it does not mean 
a belief that we shall receive, without conditions, 
every thing for which we ask. We can only be 
lieve that we shall receive what we ask when we 
ask in the spirit of Christ ; that is, as we think, 
asking for every thing not selfishly^ but so that in 
receiving it we may be able to advance the cause 
of Christ and prepare his coming. Even when 
asking for a private blessing, if we ask in the 
spirit of Christ, it will be that it may be used for 
public ends, that it may, in some manner, promote 
the real interests of the world and of humanity. 
Asking in this spirit, as disciples of Christ, what- 
ever be the particular request, it will still resolve 
itself into this, " Thy kingdom come." It will 



PRAYER OF FAITH. 



39 



be, necessarily, a prayer of submission also, in- 
cluding m it always, " Not my will, but thine, be 
done." Conscious of our own ignorance, and that 
we know not whether what we ask is best, and is 
really good for us and for others, this Christian 
prayer, like that of Jesus himself in Gethsemane, 
combines earnestness and submission, and of 
such a prayer it is not too much to say, that the 
promise of Jesus will always be fulfilled : "If ye 
abide in me, and my word abide in you, ye shall 
ask what ye will^ and it shall be done to you." 

But having thus stated the limited and negative 
side of the Prayer of Faith, we must go on to add 
that, if it is offered in submission, it is also offered 
in hope. He who prays, relying on Christ's prom- 
ise, hopes to receive something because he prays, 
which he would not otherwise obtain. The essen- 
tial thing for which he asks, he is sure to receive, 
and that as a consequence of his prayer. God 
always bestows something really good, something 
which will advance the reign of Christ, in answer 
to the Christian's prayer. Every earnest request 
offered to God, for whatever object, so the Tequest 
be made in the spirit of Jesus, is a certain means 
of advancing somewhat the cause of Christ in the 
world and in the soul. Any thing less than this 
would not exhaust the strong language of Jesus. 



i 



40 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 



He plainly teaches that every Christian prayer, 
without exception, brings down something from 
heaven, — that we always have something more 
because we ask, and in consequence of asking, 
tlian we should otherwise receive. Nothing less 
than this will satisfy his language, which teaches 
as plainly as language can, that not one prayer is 
breathed in vain ; and this explanation is in har- 
mony with eveiy other expression on the subject 
in the New Testament, and is not contradicted 
by any other passage. We may therefore state 
that the Prayer of Faith is a prayer offered in 
the spirit of Christ, and in the full confidence 
that by its means something really good will 
be obtained which otherwise would not be re- 
ceived. 

But the full meaning of the Prayer of Faith is 
not yet exhausted. Every Christian prayer con- 
sists of two parts, — one the temporal form, the 
other the lasting substance ; one embodying our 
present desire, necessity, occasion, changing whh 
time, circumstance, trial, or duty, and springing 
out of the occasion of the hour, — the other, the 
one constant longing of the soul for the coming 
of Christ, in truth and love, to overcome all false- 
hood and all evil. Let the Christian ask for daily 
bread, for \us own health in sickness, for the 



PEAYER OP FAITH. 



41 



health of another, for success in any enterprise ; 
he asks for these that, these being given, some new 
power may be added to those influences which 
shall for ever exalt good above evil. Now we 
have asserted that his prayer always succeeds in 
obtaining this inward and most essential object ; 
but we must add, that, if he is to ask for these 
temporal advantages at all, he must ask with the 
expectation that they too may be given in conse- 
quence of his prayer, that they are more likely 
to be given in consequence of his prayer than 
otherwise. For if not, then the asking for them 
would be a mere form, destitute of truth and 
reality ; and the prayer ought, instead, to be con- 
fined altogether to the other object, and should 
never include any thing but the request, " Thy 
kingdom come." But in the New Testament we 
have constant examples of prayers offered for 
special objects with the earnestness which shows 
an expectation of obtaining the object by means 
of the prayer. So Jesus prayed for power to 
raise Lazarus from the dead, and obtained it. So 
he prayed in Gethsemane that the cup might pass, 
and on this occasion this part of the prayer was 
not granted, but only the' substance, Thy will 
be done." So he tells his disciples that certain 
kinds of demoniac possession go not out except 
4* 



42 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

by means of prayer and fasting. So, in refer* 
ence to the blighted fig-tree, he promises tha 
their prayers, when made in faith, shall be the 
means of their receiving what they ask. So he 
says that continued prayers may at last obtain 
what for a long time may seem to be refused. 
(Luke xviii. 1.) So, in the Book of Acts, we 
read that Peter was sent to Cornelius in conse- 
quence of the prayers of the latter, and that when 
Peter was in prison prayer was offered without 
ceasing of the Church for him. So Paul express- 
es the conviction of being delivered from prison 
in consequence of the prayers of his friends, and 
requested them to ask that special gifts of speech 
might be given to him for his work. And so 
James teaches that the sick shall be restored to 
health in consequence of Christian prayers. And 
finally, Jesus, in the same prayer which teaches 
us to say, " Thy kingdom come," teaches us to 
ask also for daily bread, — an expression which 
may well include all temporal wants and desires 
of our daily life. 

Now, we repeat again, that to ask for these 
special, changing necessities would imply insin- 
cerity, unless we expected to receive them the 
sooner in consequence of our prayer. We there- 
fore say that the Prayer of Faith must include 



PERSEVERING PRATER. 



43 



this confidence also. It therefore implies an as- 
surance that, in consequence of our praj'er, we 
shall receive something really good which we 
otherwise should not, and that we shall be more 
likely to receive the very thing for which we ask 
than if the prayer was not offered. Whether 
this view be philosophical or not is a question to 
be considered hereafter, with other objections and 
difficulties. We now merely ask what, accord- 
ing to the teaching of Jesus and the New Testa- 
ment, the Prayer of Faith must mean ; and we, 
therefore, once more define it thus : a prayer 
offered in a Christian spirit for an eternal good 
out of a temporal need, and in the confidence 
that it will always be the means of obtaining the 
eternal good, and often the means of obtaining 
also the temporal need. 

§ 11. Persevering Prayer, 

Ltjke xi. 5-8. " And he said unto them. Which 
of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him 
at midnight and say unto him. Friend, lend me 
three loaves ; for a friend of mine in his journey 
is come to me, and I have nothing to set before 
him. And he from within shall answer, and say, 
Trouble me not ; the door is now shut, and my 
children are with me in bed. I cannot rise and 



44 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

give thee. I say unto you, though he will not 
rise and give him because he is his friend, yet 
because of his importunity he will rise and give 
him as many as he needeth. And I say unto 
you, Ask and it shall be given you," &c. 

Luke xviii. 1-8. " And he spake a parable 
unto them, to the end that men ought always to 
pray and not to faint, saying, There was in a city 
a judge which feared not God, neither regarded 
man. And there was a widow in that city, and 
she came unto him, saying. Avenge me of mine 
adversary. And he would not for awhile, but 
afterward he said within himself. Though I 
fear not God, nor regard man, yet because this 
widow troubleth me, I will avenge her ; lest by 
her continual coming she weary me. And the 
Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith ; and 
shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry 
day and night unto him, though he bear long with 
them ? I tell you that he will avenge them 
speedily." 

The object of these two parables is the same ; 
to inculcate persevering prayer. We see in both 
of them an illustration of the fact, that only a 
part of some of the parables has a Christian 
meaning and moral ; and that other parts are 



PERSEVERING PRAYER. 



45 



merely for the picturesque completeness of the 
story. The similitude in this case between the 
spiritual truth and the facts of the parable ex- 
tends only to the two points of persevering en- 
treaty on the part of the suppliants, and the final 
success resulting after a temporary, apparent fail- 
ure. The motives of the indolent friend and of 
the unjust judge make, of course, no part of the 
moral. The truth inculcated is simply this : that 
an earnest prayer for any thing which we need 
may, for a time, seem ineffectual ; but, if con- 
tinued, may finally succeed in obtaining the de- 
sired object. The reason why the prayer is not 
answered at first, or why it is at last answered, is 
not stated. It cannot be on account of variable- 
ness in the Divine mind, nor merely because of 
the importunity of the suppliant, as in the para- 
ble. But it is easy to see that there may be rea 
sons, which we cannot at present understand, on 
account of which that which cannot properly be 
given at first should afterwards be bestowed, with- 
out interfering with the Divine immutableness. 
Perhaps such a trial of our faith may be neces- 
sary for us. Or perhaps there may be some 
profound difficulty to be overcome, either in our 
own soul or in outward relations ; some difficulty 
which can only be gradually removed : and so, 



46 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

though the prayer may have been effectual from 
the first, its effects may only gradually become 
perceptible. Let us suppose, for instance, that 
one prays for spiritual strength, for a clear light 
of duty, for composure of mind, patience, equa- 
nimity in the midst of trial, — this prayer may 
be answered from the first ; God may immediate- 
ly send some holy influence into the depths of the 
soul, which shall immediately begin to produce 
the desired change. But this region in the soul 
may be below that of clear consciousness ; so 
that the change may not be perceived by him 
who is the subject of it. But if he continues to 
pray, more and more of strength may be im- 
parted, until at last the benign influence rises into 
the consciousness and is perceived. If it be 
asked, why should not God do this whole work at 
once, rather than thus gradually, we reply, that 
the world of grace has its laws and its gradations 
no less than the world of nature, as Jesus contin- 
ually indicates where he uses the regular opera- 
tions of the natural world to illustrate those of 
the spiritual world. " First the blade, then the 
ear, afterward the full corn in the ear." 

The limitation to this precept is found in the 
other which we have already considered (Matt, 
vi. 7, 8), which forbids the use of vain repetitions. 



NAME OF CHRIST. 



47 



The perseverance which is recommended is not 
a repetition of the form, but constancy in the 
substance, of prayer. It is to maintain the same 
desire, thought, and purpose ; to continue pa- 
tiently looking to God ; in a word, to wait on 
Him, It is 

" Patience, to watch and wake and weep, 
Though mercy long delay, — 
Courage, our fainting soul to keep. 
And trust thee, though thou slay." 

§ 12. Prayer in the Name of Christ, 

John xiv. 13. "Whatsoever ye shall ask in 
my name, that will I do, that the Father may be 
glorified in the Son." 

14. " If ye shall ask any thing in my name, 
I will do it." 

XV. 16. " I have ordained you that ye should 
go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit 
should remain, that whatsoever ye shall ask of 
the Father in my name, he may give it you." 

xvi. 23. " In that day ye shall ask me nothing. 
Verily, verily, I say unto you, whatsoever ye 
shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it 
you." 

. 24. " Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my 
name. Ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy 
may be full. 



48 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

26. " At that day ye shall ask in my name 
and I say not unto you that I will pray the Fa- 
ther for you, for the Father himself loveth you, 
because ye have loved me, and have believed 
that I came out from God." 

XV. 7. " If ye abide in me, and my words 
abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it 
shall be done unto you." 

In determining the meaning of these passages, 
which inculcate prayer in the name of Christ, 
all depends on the sense of the Greek word 
oro/ia, and its corresponding Hebrew term. This 
expression among the Jews had a much greater 
extent of significance than with us. We are ac- 
customed to regard the name of a person, or of a 
thing, as wholly arbitrary and a mere matter of 
convenience, having no reference to the charac- 
ter. It never occurs to us to suppose that there 
might be a natural correspondence between the 
name and the thino; named. But amono; the 
Jews, as with other, nations whose languages are 
less derived and complicated than ours, the no- 
tion had not yet been lost of a correspondence 
between the name itself and the character of the 
person or thing to which it belonged. Hence 
the importance ascribed to naming children. 



NAME OF CHRIST. 



49 



Hence the changing of the names of persons, as 
in the case of Paul, Peter, the two sons of Zebe- 
dee, and others. Hence the significance of 
Adam's naming eveiy thing in Paradise. It is 
only as we enter into this feeling of the Jews as 
regards names, that we can understand such pas- 
sages as these : " Hallowed be thy name," — " In 
thy name we have cast out devils," — " To receive 
one in the name of a prophet," — For my name's 
sake," — He has given him a name above every 
name," — " Father, glorify thy name," — " Keep 
through thine own name those thou hast given 
me," — and a multitude of others. In some of 
these cases, it appears to mean authority ; in 
others, power ; in others, again, the spirit of a 
person, or his character. Perhaps we may say, 
that, when applied to a person, it signifies his 
essential character, his special personality, and 
his whole peculiar spirit. This character may 
express itself sometimes as power or authority, 
sometimes as spirit or life. In the case before 
us, therefore, to pray in the name of Christ is to 
pray in Christ's essential spirit. This includes, 
1. reliance on his promises, 2. interest in his 
cause, 3. possession of his spirit or character. 
It is, therefore, strictly equivalent to the other 
5 



50 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

expression, " to abide in him and have his words 
abide in us." 

To pray in the name of Christ is, therefore, a 
very different thing from the mere formal men- 
tion of his name at the beginning or end of our 
prayer. It is not to begin our prayer with the 
phrase, " We come to Thee in the name of Je- 
sus," or to end it with the formula, " through 
Jesus Christ our Lord " ; nor is it to express in 
our prayer the intellectual opinion that we are 
pardoned or saved by the merits of Christ. It is 
not to express, as a matter of belief, that we 
rely on his atonement, his intercession, or his 
advocacy. All this we may do, and yet not pray 
m the name of Christ. For it is very possible 
that a prayer beginning and ending with these 
formulas, and containing quite a sincere expres- 
sion of these opinions, may not include in its 
spirit, its aim, or its character. the mind of Jesus. 
Its motive may be selfish, its object purely per- 
sonal. And if so, it has no claim founded on 
this promise. It is not " the energetic prayer of 
the righteous man," which availeth much. 

The one essential thing which is necessary to 
make a prayer a prayer " in the name of Jesus " 
is, that all its petitions should have their termina- 
tion in this one, " Thy kingdom come." This 



NAME OF JESUS. 



51 



is the sense given to this prayer by the most pro- 
found interpreters. Thus Schleiermacher says 
{Chrisfliche Glaube^ § 147) : Whether one un- 
derstands the expression ' to pray in the name 
of Jesus ' to mean, to pray in his mind and 
spirit^ rather than to pray from aji interest in 
his cause^ — or the reverse, — it is, nevertheless, 
impossible to separate these two meanings. For 
if we wish to do his work for man's redemption 
in any other spirit than his own, we must neces- 
sarily be intending a different work than his, and 
then it. would be not his work which we bring 
before God in our prayer. Therefore, every 
prayer is a prayer ' in the name of Jesus,' in 
which, whatever it may be, one prays from the 
same position in relation to the kingdom of God 
which he himself occupied." So Tholuck {Berg- 
predigt)^ in commenting on Matt. vii. 8, says : 
" Both the subjective and objective conditions of 
prayer are fulfilled when it is offered ' in the 
name of the Lord ' ; for he prays in the name of 
Christ, who, on the one hand, believes and con- 
fides in him, and, on the other hand, prays in 
relation to him^ so that he prays for that which 
will advance his kingdom." * 



* So De Wette (Exeget. Handhuch z. N. T. ad John 



52 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

Such a prayer, proceeding out of faith in Chr_st 
and his promises, and, wherever it may begin, 
always terminating in the desire that his kingdom 
may be advanced, is a truly unselfish and Chris- 
tian prayer, and one which always obtains that 
which it seeks. When we look at all which Je- 
sus says concerning the unconditional success of 
this prayer, when we notice in how many ways 
he urges, as an unquestionable fact, that, if we 
ask any thing in his name, it shall be done for 
us, we must be satisfied that he meant to say dis- 
tinctly, that God always answers this prater by 
giving that for which we ask. Such a prayer 
always tends to advance the cause of Christ, and 
to make his kingdom come. The two authors 
before quoted both admit this to be so. Thus 
Tholuck (ad Matt. vii. 8) : " It follows that we 
may say, that all the prayers of him who prays 
aright are heard. As regards spiritual tfimgs, 
the result of every prayer, in proportion as it is 
believing prayer, is to awaken the spiritual life : 
as regards outward things, he who asks for them 
in faith asks for them in the name of his Mas- 

xiv. 13) : " ' Whatsoever ye shall ask ' is limited, parti v by 
the connection, and partly by the ' in my name ' (i. e. in my 
cause^ or in the sentiment based on faith in me and my 
confession), to labors for the kingdom of God." 



NAME OF JESUS, 



53 



„er ; and this implies that his chief prayer is, 
' Thy kingdom come,' and that he asks for earth- 
ly gifts only so far as they are the means of se- 
curing spiritual gifts. Therefore, if God refuses 
the earthly object because it would be injurious 
to the welfare of his soul, this very refusal is a 
favorable answer to the essential part of his pray- 
er." So Augustine (Ep. 34) : " God is good, 
who, in refusing that which we wish, gives us 
that which we wish more," &c. ; with which 
compare the fine passage in Augustine's " Con- 
fessions," where he relates that his pious mother, 
from fear of the temptations which might beset 
her son in the metropolis, prayed God to prevent 
him from going. Yet he went, and there became 
a Christian. And therefore the excellent Church 
Father says : " She sought of Thee, O my God, 
with so many tears, that Thou wouldst hinder me 
from sailing; but Thou, in thy deeper counsel, 
perceiving the hinge of her desire, didst refuse 
that transient prayer, in order to grant her lasting 
and permanent one." So likewise Schleierma- 
cher, denying what he calls the magical view of 
the answer to prayer, nevertheless says: " Though 
we deny that what is given in answer to prayer 
implies a change in the original will of God 
which the prayer effects, yet just as litde do we 
5* 



54 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

^niiiritain that it would have been given without 
the prayer. For there is a connection between 
the prayer and its fulfilment, resting on the fact 
that both are based on one and the same thing ; 
namely, the plan and method of the kingdom of 
God. For in this the two are one : the prayer 
being the Christian anticipation or presentiment 
developed out of the collective activity of the 
Di\'ine spirit, and its fulfilment being the expres- 
sion of the ruling activity of Christ in relation to 
the same subject. Thus looked at, the fulfilment 
would not have come if the prayer had not pre- 
ceded it ; for in that case, the point which it was 
to follow in the development of the kingdom of 
heaven would have been wanting. The prayer is 
not because of its fulfilment, as though the prayer 
stood isolated as an unconnected cause, but be- 
cause the right prayer can have no other object 
than something in the order of the Divine will." * 
This prayer in the name of Jesus is the prayer 
according to God's will (1 John v. 14, 15). It 
is the prayer made by those who abide in Jesus 
and who have his words abiding in them (John 
XV. 7). It is the prayer of those who are willing 
to forgive their enemies (Mark xi. 25). It is the 



* Christliche Glauhe, § 147. 



PRAYER WITHOUT CEASING. 



55 



prayer of humility, like that of the Publican who 
went down to his house justified rather than the 
Pharisee (Luke xviii. 10-14). It is, as we have 
seen, the prayer of Faith ; and it is also the wor- 
ship of God the Father in spirit and in truth 
(John iv. 23, 24). It includes in itself, there- 
fore, all these separate conditions of acceptable 
prayer. It is the prayer of Faith, as it rests on 
faith ui Christ and his promises. It is the prayer 
of Truth, as it asks for that which we really de- 
sire. And it is prayer in the Spirit, inasmuch as 
its object is not private or personal, but generous 
and large ; being essentially, in all its various 
forms, a prayer for the redemption of man from 
all evil : and therefore, necessarily, it is an hum- 
ble and a forgiving prayer. 

§ 13. Prayer without ceasing. 

The Apostles, in their Epistles, frequently re- 
fer to Prayer as a necessary part of the Christian 
life. Unceasing prayer is urged 1 Thess. v. 17. 
So Eph. vi. 18, " praying always^'''' &c. Phil. iv. 
6, " In every thing, by prayer and supplication, 
with thanksgiving, let your request be made 
known unto God." 1 Tnn. v. 5, the widow is 
spoken of who continues in " supplication and 
prayer night and day. Rom. xii. 12, continu* 



56 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

ing instant in prayer." Col. iv. 2, " Continue in 
prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving," 
1 Peter iv. 7, Be sober, and watch unto prayer." 
James v. 13, " Is any among you afflicted, let 
him pray : is he happy, let him sing psalms." 
Jude i. 20, " But ye, beloved, praying in the Holy 
Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God." 
This spirit of constant prayer was a natural 
growth of Christianity ; one peculiarity of which, 
above other religions, was to insist on a perma- 
nent union of the soul with God, and an im- 
manent presence of the Holy Spirit in the heart, 
instead of transient inspirations. Hence Chris- 
tianity is spoken of as a life ; as a constant, reg- 
ular activity of the spiritual nature, — " the law 
of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus," — " eternal 
life abiding within us," — God and Christ " com- 
ing to make their abode in us." Such is the 
language of the New Testament. 

Therefore, to pray without ceasing intends the 
unbroken union of the soul with God, so that all 
of life shall flow from God and to God. It does 
not mean a life like that of the monks or hermits, 
in which men retire from the world to devote 
themselves to formal acts of worship, and to 
make that the chief business of life : for such 
exclusive activity of the devotional element would 



THE lord's prayer. 



57 



-not be as truly unceasing prayer as a life which 
alternates, like that of Jesus, between the moun- 
tain and the multitude. He who does nothing but 
pray is unable even to do this. His prayer ne- 
cessarily degenerates into a form, into an outward 
routine, and so ceases to be prayer. When he 
takes himself out of life, where is' the sphere of 
Christian duty, he loses the subject-matter for 
prayer. He has nothing to pray for, except in 
relation to the moods of his own mind, and there- 
fore his prayer becomes wholly personal ; and 
instead of praying out of an interest in Christ's 
kingdom, and the coming of his truth in the 
world, he prays only for himself. Therefore to 
pray without ceasing is to work for man in con- 
stant reliance on God ; to work for Christ, and in 
every m.oment of need to look to God for strength 
wherewith to work. While this habit of inter- 
course with God is maintained, while we thus bring 
all parts of our life before Him in thankfulness, 
penitence, or supplication, we fulfil the command 
to pray without ceasing. 

§ 14. The Lord'^s Prayer. 

We find the Lord's Prayer in two places : 
Matt. vi. 9-13; Luke xi. 1- 5. It is doubtful 
which of these two places contains the original 



58 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

form of the prayer. In favor of Matthew is the 
fact, that it is much abridged in Luke ; and in 
favor of Luke, that the occasion for the prayer 
seems more suitable. We are not to suppose this 
prayer set up as a form to be verbally followed, 
but rather as a model in its substance, tone, and 
method. Attempts have been made to show that 
the petitions in this prayer were borrowed from 
Jewish liturgies : and even Wetstein says the 
whole prayer is made up of Hebrew formulas. 
But Tholuck has shown that this prayer was 
taken neither from the Talmud nor the Zenda- 
vesta ; and De Wette, a very cold-blooded critic, 
remarks, that, " though Lightfoot, Schottgen, Wet- 
stein, Vitringa, and others have collected all pos- 
sible parallels, even out of modern Jewish pray- 
er-books, it yet appears, even supposing that the 
Jews have not imitated it, that the prayer of the 
Lord is by no means a cento ^ but contains mere- 
ly correspondences to well-known Old Testa- 
ment and Messianic ideas and expressions, and 
this too only in the first two petitions." 

Short as this prayer is, it has usually been sup- 
posed to contain a great fulness of meaning. 
TertuUian says it truly contains the breviary of the 
whole Gospel : and De Wette remarks, that it 
expresses in its seven petitions the whole course 



THE lord's prayer. 



59 



of reagious experience ; in the first three, the un- 
hindered flight of the spirit to God ; in the next 
three, the hinderances opposed to this aspiration 
by the sense of dependence on earthly circum- 
stances, and by the conflict with sin ; while the 
last petition expresses the solution which harmo- 
nizes this conflict. But it is well remarked by 
Tholuck that only in the mouth of the Christian 
does this prayer obtain its full meaning, since 
only the Christian can call God Father in the full 
sense of the word, only he can pray with right 
intelligence for the coming of God's kingdom, 
and only he can say, " Forgive us our debts, as 
we forgive our debtors." 

" Our Father who art in Heaven." The word 
" our " expresses the sense of human brother- 
hood, the word Father " the sense of childlike 
trust. Thus the two great commandments, love 
to God and love to man, are united in this first 
expression. The word Father is indeed applied 
to Jehovah a few times in the Old Testament, and 
the same name was given to Zeus by the Greeks, 
and to Jupiter by the Romans. But the sense in 
which the Heathen and the Jews call the Supreme 
Being " Father of gods and men," is diflerent 
from the Christian meaning of the term in this, 



60 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

that they intended by it rather the original source 
and author of our lives than their present guard- 
ian and friend. The Christian use of the term 
implies the presence of a filial confidence (Gal. 
iv. 6). But with this confidence and trust, which 
enable us to bring to God our actual wishes, must 
be combined that sense of his holiness and infinite 
perfection which shall purify and elevate our 
prayer, and therefore we immediately say, " who 
art in Heaven." This expression, teaching us to 
realize the infinite elevation of God in his un- 
changing nature, of which the pure ether is the 
symbol, makes our prayer spiritual. When we 
say, " Our Father," we worship God in truth, 
bringing to Him our real feelings ; when we say, 
" who art in Heaven," we worship him in spirit, 
bringing to Him our lest feelings. 

" Hallowed be thy name." Understanding by 
" name," as we before said, character^ or the 
most intimate and essential being, this clause is 
an expression of reverence before the Divine na- 
ture. And this is the necessary beginning of all 
true prayer : first to recognize the holiness of 
the presence in which we stand, and then, in the 
contemplation of it, to seek that this holiness ma;y 
be felt and understood more deeply by ourselves 
and others. 



THY KINGDOM COME. 



61 



•^Thy kingdom come»" This, as we have 
seen, is the most central and essential part of the 
whole prayer, and constitutes the centre of all 
Christian prayer. The precise meaning of this 
phrase, as used in the New Testament, is open to 
dispute, and very different meanings have been 
given. By some it has been thought to mean 
a present reign of God in this world, and by 
others a future reign, either in this world or 
the next. Those who regard it as present^ are 
again divided in opinion as to whether it is an 
outward or an inward kingdom, a kingdom in the 
soul (either of individuals or in the general spirit 
of society), or an outward kingdom in the form 
of a community, a church, a regenerated social 
order, and a reform of the moral evils of the 
world. And, in tmth, the comprehensive term 
includes all these things, and intends God reign- 
ing through the power of Christ, first in the in- 
dividual soul, next in a Christian community or 
Church, afterwards in a purified civilization and 
a world redeemed from evil. And this kingdom 
or reign of God, beginning in this life, goes on 
into the other, so that the two worlds are boimd 
together and made one, and 

** The saints below and those above 
But one communion make " 
6 



62 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

Now he who becomes a disciple of Christ 
takes up, as his work in life, this work of his 
Master, and becomes one of that great brother- 
hood whose aim it is to cause Christ to reign till 
all enemies are subdued to obedience and grati- 
tude by the power of his truth and his love. 
And as his aim, so his prayer. Whatever else 
he may ask, this deepest purpose of his life finds 
its expression in his prayer, and subordinates 
every thing else to itself. 

" Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven." 
This clause of the prayer has been sometimes 
interpreted as a supplication, and at other times 
as an act of submission, equivalent to that of 
Christ in the garden of Gethsemane. If the pre- 
ceding clause directs our attention rather to the 
outward triumphs of the Gospel in a renewed so- 
ciety and a reformation of conduct, this refers 
more to the centre in the soul, where God reigns 
over a will at one with his. 

" Give us this day our daily bread." By this 
petition we are brought into relation with the out- 
ward world of temporal needs ; and this request, 
inserted by the Master in our daily prayer, is the 
one sufficient reply to all objections against 



DAILY BREAD. 



63 



making temporal wants the object of petition. 
It is bread, one of the humblest of those wants, 
— bread, one of the wants which we should, 
more than any other, expect to receive from 
work rather than from prayer ; — " daily bread,'' 
to be asked for, therefore, continually ; — " give 
us to-day," therefore, a specific and particular, 
not a general, petition. It is evident that this 
request will justify petitions for all the objects of 
temporal desire which can be asked for in a 
Christian spirit. 

The word here translated "daily" {imovcnov) 
is one of those New Testament words which is not 
to be met with elsewhere in the New Testament, 
nor in any of the other twelve hundred works of 
Greek literature which remain to us,* and its 
meaning has been much disputed from the earliest 
times. Its signification depends on its derivation, 
which, in like manner, has been always a matter 
of controversy. According to one view, the mean- 
ing is necessary bread, or bread necessary for es- 
sential want ; according to the other, bread for the 
day^ or for the coming day. It has also been a 
question much discussed, whether spiritual bread 
and spiritual needs are included in this petition 



Tholuck, Bergpredigt, 



64 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

with temporal, and the Roman Catholic interpret- 
ers translate " super-substantial bread," referring 
it to the Eucharist. But this last interpretation is 
extremely forced ; while we may readily admit 
that spiritual needs are included in the petition 
with temporal. For if we understand the term 
here in dispute to mean that which is necessary, 
then, according to the symbolical language of 
Scripture, the whole petition would be for all 
that we need — whether of temporal or spiritual 
things — to make us strong for this day's occa- 
sions. 

" And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our 
debtors." From seekincr strength for outward 
work, we pass inward by means of this petition, 
and seek deliverance from the daily recurring 
sense of estrangement from God because of spir- 
itual weakness. The prayer, so full of courage, 
which has asked nothing less than that we should 
do God's will as it is done by the angels, is 
also filled with the humility and the self-knowl- 
edge which recognize daily w^eakness and failure. 
How different is this from the prayer ascribed to 
Apollonius, who used to ask every day, " O ye 
gods ! give me that which is my due." The 
condition attached to this request has caused a 



FORGIVE US OTJR DEBTS. 



65 



difficulty to interpreters in all times. And Chry- 
sostom tells us that in the ancient Church many 
worshippers from fear were accustomed to omit 
this clause altogether. Others, like Zwingle, 
turn it into a profession of faith ; or, like Luther, 
make it a vow to God ; or, like Calvin, consider 
it as a warning to be merciful. But most inter- 
preters more justly consider it to imply that, if 
our prayer for forgiveness is to be heard, it 
should be offered in a forgiving spirit. J The 
meaning is, not that we must forgive others to 
the same degree with which we are forgiven, but 
in the same way and the same spirit. } God for- 
gives us a great debt, (Matt, xviii. 32,) " and we 
must also have compassion on our fellow-ser- 
vants." The remarkable feature in this clause 
is that it should be found where it is, apparently 
breaking into the chain of thought, and taking the 
mind away from the contemplation of its relation 
to God, into that of its relation to its fellow-man. 
But this also accords with the spirit of Christian 
prayer, which is a spirit of communion, and with 
the beginning of the prayer which addresses 
God as " our Father." The whole of this clause 
implies the need of daily self-examination, to 
see whether we are at peace with God and with 
man. 




66 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 



" And lead us not into temptation." This pe- 
tition involves two difficulties. Since temptatioh^ 
or trial is the necessary condition of human de- 
velopment, why should we ask not to be led into 
temptation } For James says (i. 2), " Count it 
all joy when ye fall into divers temptations, 
knowing that the trial of your faith worketh pa- 
tience." And secondly, how can God be said to 
lead us into temptation, since not he, but Satan, 
is the tempter } And the Apostle also says (James 
i. 13, 14), Let no man say, when he is tempted, 
I am tempted of God ; for God cannot be tempted 
with evil, neither tempteth he any man ; but every 
man is tempted when he is drawn away by his 
own lusts and enticed." The solution commonly 
given to the first difficulty is to explain the pe- 
tition to mean, " Lead us not into temptation too 
great for us to resist." But the Christian, who is 
conscious of his weakness in himself, feels that 
any temptation may be too strong for him, and 
therefore prays to be spared, in a sense of his 
liability to fall. This self-distrust which trusts in 
God may make temptation unnecessary ; for the 
object of temptation is, in part, to teach this very 
lesson of our weakness. Hence if we pray he- 
forehand, in the right spirit, to be saved from 
temptation, then the prayer may do for us all 



LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION. 67 

that the temptation would do. But if, neverthe- 
less, the temptation comes, we may be sure that 
we needed it, and may hope that we shall have 
strength to resist it adequate to the occasion. 
Thus the prayer of Jesus will be fulfilled in our 
behalf. We shall not be taken out of the world, 
but kept from the evil. That which would have 
been dangerous temptation, if we had not prayed, 
is changed into trial by our prayer ; and by 
means of such trial, we enter more certainly into 
the kingdom of God. The solution usually given 
to the second difficulty is to paraphrase the pas- 
sage as though it read, " Suffer us not to fall into 
temptation." But this is merely evading the 
difficulty, not solving it. The temptation is oc- 
casioned by circumstances which come in the 
providence of God ; and if they thus come, does 
not he tempt us.? The answer is, that, though 
the occasion of temptation is in the circumstances 
which God does arrange, the cause of temptation 
is in our own lusts or evil desires, according to 
the statement of the Apostle. It is apparent that 
the same circumstance which would be a tempta- 
tion to one man would be no temptation to an- 
other. The outward act is not the cause, but the 
occasion, of temptation ; and, moreover, when 
this occasion is sent by God, it is not sent be- 



I 



68 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTEIN-E OF PRAYEE. 



cause he wishes us to fall into evil, but because 
he wishes us either to learn our own weakness, 
or to practise and increase our strength. A 
wicked man may take a Satanic pleasure in 
making others wicked like himself, and may be 
really a tempter, but God does not thus tempt 
He tries us, that we may grow purer or stronger 
through the trial. Thus explained, we see that 
Jesus intends, that, as we have recognized in the 
preceding petition for forgiveness our past weak- 
ness, so we should recognize in the present pe- 
tition the possibility of future weakness, and in 
this recognition find strength : according as Paul 
says, " When I was weak, then I was strong." 

But deliver us from evil." As we have just 
prayed to be delivered from outward temptation, 
which is the occasion of sin, we now ask to be 
delivered by the Holy Spirit inwardly from the 
evil of a selfish heart, which is the cause of sin. 
And in this petition also is included the outward 
evil which results, directly or indirectly, from 
inward evil. This petition is opposed to a false 
optimism, which considers all evil as merely 
negative, and does not recognize the possibility 
of the soul, by abuse of its freedom, coming into 
a positive antagonism to God. If there were no 



THE EPILOGUE. 



69 



real evil in the world, but only different degrees 
of good, this petition would be without meaning. 
Much of the philosophy of the present time ex- 
plains away the whole positive side of evil, and 
establishes such a superficial optimism. But the 
deepest thought of this and of every other age 
sees more clearly that there is positive evil, as 
well as negative ; that selfishness, hatred, cruelty, 
and licentiousness are not merely lower degrees 
of generosity, love, humanity, and purity, but 
their exact opposites, — that there is such a thing 
as dislike to goodness, hatred of truth, and aver- 
sion to God. This deeper thought is in harmony 
with the deeper Christian experience which finds 
in the soul a like antagonism, and recognizes the 
presence of these great polar forces in the depths 
of our moral life. Out of such a conviction, and 
by means of such an experience only, can this 
petition be uttered with entire truth. 

The Epilogue. " For thine is the kingdom, 
and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. 
Amen.'' Almost all critics, Tholuck included, 
decide against the genuineness of this Epilogue. 
The reason is wholly critical, for there is nothing 
in the passage itself inconsistent with the spirit 
of Jesus. On the contrary, it forms an appro- 



70 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

priate close to the whole prayer, including in a 
few brief words its ground and aim. The king- 
dom^ for the coming of which we pray, is God's ; 
therefore, we believe that he will take charge of 
it, and not allow it to be kept back by the powers 
of evil. The power is his to cause it to succeed, 
for his omnipotence surrounds the laws of Na- 
ture and the will of man. And the glory is his, 
not ours ; therefore we may rightfully ask wha* 
confidence in his power leads us to ask, with 
assured hope. 

Such is the substance of this wonderful prayer ; 
with which we may appropriately conclude our 
summary of the teaching of Jesus on this subject ; 
since the prayer itself includes and illustrates all 
his teaching on this point. It is brief and com- 
prehensive ; containing no vain repetitions. It is 
filled with childlike trust in the Father, with 
brotherly sympathy for man. It is earnest and 
spiritual, submitting to God's will, and desiring 
that to be done, yet expressing the most common 
desires and needs of daily life. It is an humble 
but a hopeful prayer ; recognizing the fact of 
evil, recognizing the fact of an entire salvation 
from all evil. It so feels the weakness of man, 
as to ask to be saved from temptation. It so 



PRAYERS OF JESUS. 



71 



feels the capability of man, that it asks to do 
God's will on earth, as it is done by the angels 
around the throne. It is a prayer which the low- 
liest sinner may utter, which the holiest saint 
cannot outgrow. 

§ 15. Prayers of Jesus, 

The instances recorded of the prayers of Jesus 
are not numerous, but are all interesting. After 
the great miracle of feeding the five thousand, he 
sent his disciples away in a boat, and went into 
a mountain apart by himself to pray. Before 
choosing the twelve disciples, he went out into 
a mountain, and continued all night in prayer 
to God ; and when the day came, called all his 
disciples, and from among them selected the 
Twelve. Again, Jesus prayed on the Mount of 
Transfiguration, and came, by that prayer, into 
a higher state. He prayed before raising Laza- 
rus from the dead ; with his friends and for his 
friends, at the institution of the Supper; for his 
enemies upon the cross ; for himself in the Gar- 
den of Gethsemane. These instances (which, no 
doubt, are the few recorded examples of a much 
more frequent practice) all hint at a connection 
between the prayer and its occasion. These 
prayers of Jesus all grow out of his life. After 



72 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 



feeding the five thousand, the people wished to 
make him a king ; and his disciples, he discovers 
by conversing with them, are convinced that he 
is the iMessiah. He inculcates on them the con- 
viction that he is going, not to outward tri- 
umph, but to suffering and death. He seeks tlius 
to check the rise in their minds of false hopes. 
He then sends the disciples away across the lake, 
and himself goes into the mountain alone to pray. 
It is natural to think that the subject m his mind 
would be the subject of his prayer, and that he 
felt the importance of having these false popular 
tendencies restrained by new influences from 
above. When he prayed before choosing his 
disciples, it is probable that he had in his mind 
the important consequences w^hich would result 
from this choice, and felt the need of being 
guided in it aright. The subject of his prayer 
on the Mount of Transfiguration we do not know, 
but its result was, that he passed visibly into a 
higher state, and a sphere in which he had com- 
munion with Elijah and Moses, and the subject 
of their conversation was his coming death at 
Jerusalem. The prayer at Gethsemane, so deep- 
ly interesting for other reasons, is important as 
regards our present subject, as showing that it 
was still possible, in the opinion of Jesus, that 



PRAYER OF JESUS, JOHN XVII. 73 

in consequence of his prayer he might be spared 
the approaching trial. Now this is the most 
complete reply to the objection to the answer to 
Prayer, taken from the immutability of the Divine 
purposes. Jesus had foreseen his death ap- 
proaching, had spoken of it repeatedly as some- 
thing necessary ; and yet, at this very late hour, 
he did not consider it so immutably fixed but that 
it might possibly still not take place because of 
his prayer. It is impossible to believe less than 
this ; and it therefore follows, that no event can 
be considered to be so absolutely decreed but 
that it may be altered by the freedom of the 
Almighty will. 

§ 16. Prayer of Jesus in John xvii. 

This last prayer of Jesus with his disciples, 
contained in the seventeenth chapter of John, is 
filled with a wonderful fulness and depth of 
thought and feeling. The cool De Wette re- 
marks, that it is unquestionably the most elevated 
of any thing which evangelical tradition has pre- 
served, containing the pure stamp of that lofty 
consciousness of union and peace with God which 
belongs to Jesus. The prevailing thought is his 
own union with God, which is to be a medium 
through which the life of God is to flow into the 
7 



74 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

whole human race. He asks that he may now 
receive the glory foreordained for him before the 
world was, of transmitting the Divine glory of 
truth and love into the hearts and lives of men. 
He feels himself about to ascend to God, and that 
his power to conquer the sin of the world is 
now to begin. But as Jesus ascended from the 
world, and was outwardly to be separated from 
his disciples, he felt the more their need of being 
kept by Divine power in union with each other 
and with God, and this is the substance of his 
prayer. 

The use and meaning of the term " glory " in 
this closing part of John's Gospel has perhaps not 
been sufficiently examined. That it means some- 
thing very different from what is commonly called 
" gloiy," is sufficiently apparent. But what does 
it mean ? If we turn to John xii. 20, we find 
an account of certain Greeks at the Feast who 
expressed a desire to see Jesus. The emotion 
which Jesus hereupon discovered arose, I think, 
from his seeing in this inquiry of the Greeks the 
two great elements coming together which were 
to form the basis of Christianity, — the Greek 
and the Jew. He saw the true religion about to 
be emancipated from its previous barriers and to 
overflow the world, and he was deeply convinced 



GLORY OF CHRIST. 



75 



that this emancipation of religion which was to 
be his glon'- could only take place through his 
death, and therefore he says (verse 23), ''The 
hour is come that the Son of Man should be glo- 
rified " ; and adds, that except a grain of wheat 
fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone ; but 
if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." He is 
evidently seized with profound agitation, and 
says, Now is my soul troubled, and what shall 
I say? Shall I say, Father, save me from this 
hour ? But for this purpose I have come to this 
hour. — Father, GLORIFY thy name. The glory 
was to be this outflow of Divine life over the 
world, and Jesus directly adds. This is the cri- 
sis of the world, and now the Prince of this world 
shall be cast out, and if I be lifted up from the 
earth, I will draw all unto me. This would 
seem to make it clear that the glory of Jesus 
was, to be the medium, by his death, of unit- 
ing all mankind into one brotherhood under one 
Father. But this appears more strikingly from 
the forty-first verse, which, after a quotation from 
Isaiah, declares, " These things said Isaiah, when 
he saw Ms glory^ and spake of him." If now 
we refer to Isaiah (vi. 10), we shall find that he 
had a vision of God sitting in the Temple, but 
his glory extending out of it, and filling the whole 



76 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

earth. As he looked, the door-posts of the Tem- 
ple were moved, and the Temple itself became 
clouded and dark with smoke. Then he was 
told that the heart of the Jewish people was to be 
made hard, &c. This vision John applies to 
Jesus. The glory of God leaves the Temple and 
fills the whole earth. This is fulfilled in the 
Jews' rejection of Jesus, and the Gentiles' receiv- 
ing him. Both had just been spoken of by John 
(in xii. 32), speaking of Christ being glorified 
also by the death which would draw all men 
unto him ; fulfilling thus one part of the vision, 
and the other part being fulfilled by the unbelief 
of the Jews bringing the darkness upon them 
(verse 35) prefigured by the Temple being filled 
with smoke. The glory^ therefore, spoken of, 
John xii. 41, is the glory given by God to Christ, 
and by him to his disciples (John xvii. 22). 
When Jesus glorified God, he also glorified him- 
self, but not by seeking his own glory as his ob- 
ject (John vii. 18, viii. 50). Isaiah saw the glory 
of God and of Christ, that is, of God in Christ. 

This prayer of Jesus is mainly intercessoiy. 
As the High-Priest entered into the Holy of 
Holies to intercede with God for the Jewish peo- 
ple, so Jesus, the great High-Priest over the 
house of God, entered into this " sanctuary of 



Christ's intercession. 77 

sorrow," this holiest of all, this most sacred hour 
of any mortal life, to intercede for his friends 
and followers in all time. He prayed that they 
might be one, that they might be kept by the 
power of God from all evil, that they might be 
sanctified by the truth, and, finally, that they 
might be with him, and see his glory, and be 
filled with the same Divine love which was in 
his own heart. Such a prayer could only be 
made for those who were willing to receive these 
blessings, whose hearts were turned the right 
way. And therefore Jesus says, |" I pray for 
them, I pray not for the world, but for them 
which thou hast given me.". A prayer for such 
spiritual blessings can be made only for those 
who are willing to receive them ; for no Divine 
influence interferes with the freedom of the will. 
So Jesus prayed for Peter (Luke xxii. 32), but 
not for Judas. It is an interesting question what 
kind of intercessions may be made for the im- 
penitent. (See 1 John V. 16.) Luther says: "It 
must be right to pray for the world, and right not 
to pray for the world. Stephen prayed for his 
persecutors, and Christ prayed for the world on 
the cross." That Jesus' did not pray for the 
world at this time, but only for his disciples and 
friends, though on the cross he prayed for his 
7* 



78 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYEB. 



enemies, was probably because he wished at this 
time to remain in the sphere of human and di- 
vine sympathy. In order that certain moods of 
mind may be entire, in order that we may ad- 
vance far in certain spiritual directions, it is ne- 
cessary that nothing uncongenial should break into 
the sphere of our thought. The aspirations of 
the soul to God, the communion of the heart with 
man, the investigation of truth, the assault on er- 
ror, each demands its own congenial atmosphere ; 
and when mixed together, mental dissipation and 
distraction is the result. Therefore, during this 
hour of communion, after Judas had gone out, 
the mind of Jesus was wholly occupied with the 
thought of his friends and their needs ; and this 
period of sweet, loving intercourse was like the 
calm which sometimes comes in the midst of the 
wildest hurricane. For the time, all thoughts of a 
hostile world, of conspiring foes, and an impend- 
ing doom, were shut out of his mind, and all was 
peace, all love. 

§ 17. Tfie Prayer at Gethsemane, 

Jesus went out from this hour of holy com- 
munion with God, with his friends, and with the 
future, as one goes forth from a warmed and 
lighted assembly into darkness and storm. The 



AGONY AT GETHSEMANE. 



79 



thought of the coming fate now returned into his 
mind, and he went to the Mount of Olives, and to 
the Garden so familiar, to look that dark destiny 
in the face. Then set in upon his soul that great 
flood of mysterious sorrow which the Christian 
world has ever looked upon with such deep in- 
terest, and sought in so many ways to explain. 
It has been thought to imply weakness on the 
part of Jesus to shrink from a fate which he had 
so long foreseen ; and it has been supposed to be 
inconsistent with his prophetic foresight that he 
should believe it possible for the cup to pass 
away. Some critics, therefore, have doubted the 
historical accuracy either of this event or of the 
conversation and triumphant prayer in John. But 
if we assume, according to the supposition just 
made, that Jesus had shut out, for the time, all 
thought of his approaching death in order to en- 
joy a full communion with his disciples, this sub- 
sequent reaction of mind will not appear unnatu- 
ral. Some theologians of the weaker sort have 
attempted a superficial explanation of this anguish 
as arising out of bodily fatigue. Such expla- 
nations leave the chief difficulty unexplained 
Many theologians, therefore, have supposed that 
Jesus was at this time enduring mystical suffer- 
ings ; that he was undergoing the punishment of 



80 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

the sins of the world, and was forsaken by God. To 
support this view, they have joined forces with the 
Deist, and argued, with Celsus and other uifid^ls, 
that Jesus here shows less courage and firmness 
in view of death than many other martyrs of all 
times. To this it has been correctly answered, 
that a heroic apathy, like that of the Stoic or 
North American Indian, makes no part of the 
Christian ideal, and that the fortitude which is 
based on insensibility is not the highest courage. 
The divine strength of Christ was made perfect 
in his human weakness. He who sees and feels 
the whole terror of evil, and then firmly encoun- 
ters it, has a loftier courage than the hero or 
martyr who goes to meet it with insensibility, or 
with a mind wholly occupied with excitement, 
and with his attention absorbed in a glorious fu- 
ture. Jesus was blinded by no such enthusiasm. 
He saw all the evils that were to come ; not only 
his own sufferings, but those of his disciples and 
those of his nation, — the awful calamities which 
his life might have averted, and which his death 
would hasten. The words which he uttered to 
the women, on his way to the cross, permit us to 
look for a moment into his mind. " Daughters of 
Jerusalem ! weep not for me, but weep for your- 
selves and for your children." He had m oi^ 



JESUS AT GETHSEMANE. 



81 



thusiastic hope of a sudden triumph of the Gospel. 
He saw but too clearly, in the misunderstandings 
and ignorance of his disciples concerning his mis- 
sion, how long it must be before it could be com- 
prehended by the mass of mankind. Buoyed up 
by no delusive hopes, seeing the evil in its full 
extent and greatness, sharing with us all human 
sensibilities, Jesus recognized and accepted with 
truthful anguish the reality of the coming evil. 
But it would be a great mistake to suppose that 
the bodily pain of death was the chief bitterness 
in the cup which he prayed might pass away. 
The anguish was, that by this path alone his great 
end could be obtained, that all these elements of 
wickedness and sin should be necessarily devel- 
oped by the course he was pursuing, that his 
work could only be accomplished by means of 
the treachery and cowardice of his friends, the 
cruel injustice of his enemies, and the murderous 
rage of the people. The bitterest ingredient of 
the cup was the sin mingled in it, — the denial 
of Peter, the treason of Judas, the heartless policy 
of Caiaphas, the selfish injustice of Pilate, the 
brutality of the Roman soldiers, the ingratitude 
of the Jewish people. He saw all these black 
elements of evil approach him, and he might well 
say, " This is your hour, and the power of dark- 



82 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

ness." He might well turn once more to God, 
and ask, with the last energy of his soul, if there 
was no other way, if the same end might not be 
attained by some other means ; if the world might 
not be spared this great crime ; — and this was 
the substance of his prayer. 

And yet there is a sense in which it may be 
said that Jesus bore at that time on his heart the 
sins of the world. For there is a law of the hu- 
man mind which causes us to pass from the par- 
ticular circumstance of evil into the universal 
cause. And this law acts in proportion to the 
greatness and comprehensiveness of the soul. It 
is but a small nature to which the chief grief of 
any evil consists in the actual amount of present 
sorrow. It is the spirit of injustice manifested 
therein, the discovery of a law of evil, the de- 
struction of earlier confidence and hope, which is 
the sharpest pang. It is to find the law of disap- 
pointment, of failure, of bereavement, prevail- 
ing in life. Even the child's deepest grief at a 
trifling disappointment shows itself in the expres- 
sion, " It is always so ; I never can have any 
thing I want." And when we are older, and 
come in contact with the grief of others, it is not 
the particular evil, but the underlying law of evil, 
which pours gloom over life. 



JESUS AT GETHSEMANE. 



83 



" She cries, These things confound me 
They settle on my brain, 
The very air around me 
Is universal pain.'' 

It is only by the operation of this law that I am 
able to explain the anguish of Jesus at the grave 
of Lazarus. It could not be merely the present 
sorrow which caused him not only to weep, but to 
groan within himself again and again : the pres- 
ent sorrow he would presently remove. But in 
that sorrow he felt and saw a symbol of all earth- 
ly suffering, of all human bereavements : he saw 
how death everywhere, bereavement everywhere, 
followed close upon life. And this large over- 
looking view of the sufferings of man he then took 
in anguish upon his soul. He saw then, with un- 
sealed eye, what Paul afterwards said, that " the 
whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain to- 
gether until now." It is easy to shut one's eyes 
to the fact of evil, and look only at the bright side 
of things, and so we may bear it, — lut not con- 
quer it, Jesus saw and felt the whole amount of 
evil, and therefore was able to overcome it. And 
as at the tomb of Lazarus he bore the sufferings 
of the world, so in the Garden of Gethsemane he 
may have borne the sin of the world, — entering 
by one living experience into the very deepest 



84 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYEE. 

depth of human iniquity. But this is a very dif- 
ferent thing from bearing the punishment of sin- 
ners, and being deprived of the sight of God's 
love. The whole prayer at Gethsemane is to his 
Father, which proves that he was not deprived 
of the sight of his Father. 

As regards the other difficulty in the prayer at 
Gethsemane, namely, its supposed inconsistency 
with his prophetic knowledge of his approaching 
death, we must consider the nature of prophecy 
in order to find its solution. The prophet does 
not foresee a future event as something absolute- 
ly certain, but he sees an event approaching. He 
sees the event in the future, and he sees it com- 
ing near. It comes nearer and nearer : it is just 
at hand. If nothing occurs to prevent it, it must 
take place ; but even at the last moment, some- 
thing may occur to prevent it, and it may not 
take place. The prophet sees the tendency of 
things ; sees the direction of the approaching 
wave ; sees it rising overhead, about to break in 
thunder and foam ; and this he announces. This 
view of prophecy, at all events, is the only one 
which is consistent with the facts recorded in the 
Bible, and with such a prayer as this of Jesus. 
Continually in the Old Testament the prophets 
announce events as about to take place which 



JESUS AT GETHSEMANE. 



85 



never do take place. Thus Jonah declared that 
in forty days Nineveh would be destroyed. But 
the inhabitants of Nineveh repented, and Nineveh 
was spared. Isaiah went to Hezekiah and said, 
" Thus saith the Lord : Set thy house in order, 
for thou shalt die and not live." But Hezekiah 
prayed, and God heard his prayer and added to 
his days fifteen years. Nathan announced to 
David that he should die as a punishment for his 
Sin. But David confessed his sin, and Nathan 
said, " The Lord also hath put away thy sin ; 
thou shalt not die." We see, therefore, that the 
Scriptural idea of prophecy does not imply any 
iron fate, or any system of necessity, but leaves 
untouched the Divine ant^ human freedom. 



86 



CHAPTER III. 

OBiJiuTIONS TO PRAYER. 

^ 18. Metaphysical and Abstract, The Divine 
Attributes. 

According to the view we have taken, Jesus 
and his Apostles teach that both outward and in- 
ward blessings are obtained by means of Prayer, 
and that we may thereby obtain blessings of both 
kinds which we should not otherwise receive. 
But to this view of Prayer objections are made, 
and it is supposed to imply philosophical difficul- 
ties. These we now proceed to consider. We 
shall first look at the metaphysical and abstract 
difficulties based upon the Divme attributes, — 
then the scientific difficulties^ based on the laws 
of Nature, — next the psychological difficulties 
founded on human freedom, — and then the diffi- 
culties of the Spiritualist. First, therefore, of the 
metaphysical difficulties. These are found in the 
fact of the omniscience, omnipotence, and infinite 
benevolence of God. It is said, God is omniscient 



METAPHYSICAL DIFFICULTIES. 87 

and knows what is best for us without our telling 
him, — he is infinitely good, and will give it to us 
whether we ask him or not, — he is an omnipo- 
tent sovereign, and must act according to his own 
will, without reference to our prayers. But it is 
evident that, if these arguments prove that Prayer 
is unavailing, they prove a great deal more, and 
prove that all effort in any way, for any object, is 
equally unavailing. Just as far as they have 
force as against the power of Prayer, they go to 
establish a system of Necessity, or, we should 
rather say, a Fatalism. If man must not pray in 
expectation of thereby obtaining what he wants, 
because God is good, neither must he plough, or 
sow, or build a hous^, or send a ship across the 
ocean. If it is best for him to have a house, or a 
crop of wheat, God is infinitely wise and good, 
and will give them to him. If this objection from 
the Divine attributes should be thus urged against 
such efforts, what would be the answer ? Com- 
mon sense would reply, God has established these 
means by which we are to obtain certain blessings ; 
and if we use these means, he will give them to 
us, otherwise not. Precisely the same answer 
may be made to this objection, as urged against 
Prayer. It may be that it is well for us, accord- 
ing to the Divine view, that we should have a 



88 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

house, or a crop of wheat, provided we use the 
means, — not well, if we do not use them. So it 
may be well for us, in the view of God, to receive 
certain blessings if we pray, — not well, if we do 
not pray. The only question is. Has God made 
Prayer one way of obtaining certain blessings, as 
he has made foresight and labor to be another 
way ? This metaphysical objection to Prayer is 
an objection lying against free-will altogether; 
and by whatever argument we defend the free- 
dom of the will, by the same argument we may 
defend Prayer, so far as this objection is con- 
cerned. 

§ 19. Scientific Objections, — Laws of Nature, 
— Combers Constitution of Man. 

The second of the philosophical difficulties 
which we are considering is founded on the laws 
of the natural world and the order of things. 
Men of science, accustomed to see law every- 
where, and with whom all explanation is equiva- 
lent to the discovery of laws, find it difficult to 
believe in any real answer to Prayer, because it 
seems to them equivalent to a violation of law. 
They view it as a miracle, and they believe that 
miracles have ceased. According to them, God 
now does every thing in accordance with law, and 



combe's constitution of man. 89 

nothing, in any strict sense, as a free Being. Or, 
m other words, they view the operation of the Di- 
vine laws in such a way as to exclude the Divine 
freedom. Moreover, as they see that the object 
X)f these laws is a benevolent one in all cases, 
they do not see how God could interfere to sus- 
pend their operation with any good result. For 
example, if a person should carelessly or wilfully 
violate the laws of health and become sick, they 
believe that his best interests would be promoted 
rather by his suffering the penalty, and so becom- 
ing wiser, than by its being removed in answer to 
his prayer. 

These views have been urged, with much force 
and clearness, by Mr. Combe, in that well-known 
work, "The Constitution of Man " ; * a work 



* See Combe's Constitution of Man, Chap. VI. § 2, and 
Chap. IX. Mr. Combe admits that the moral improvement 
of man is one object of the arrangements of the world, but 
contends that the evils of life are always to be regarded as 
punishments for violation of the natural laws, and not as 
particular manifestations of the love of God to the individ- 
ual. " On the whole, therefore,'' says he, " no adequate 
reason appears for regarding the consequences of physical 
accidents in any other light than as direct punishments for 
infringement of the natural laws, and indirectly as a means 
of accomplishing moral and religious improvement." The 
whole argument excludes all tliat we have called Special (or 
8* 



90 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYEH. 



which contains much that is true and good, and 
the chief defect of which is, that, while it asserts 
prudence, it rejects Providence. It gives us a 
true, but one-sided, view of the world and of life. 
Like most partial systems, it is inexhaustible in 
explanation. From its point of view every thing 
is explained ; all the evils of life find a solution. 
Only, after the understanding has been gratified 
by the cr}'stal clearness of this stream of thought, 
there is some deeper instinct which grows dissat- 
isfied with its shallowness. Nothing is more easy 
than to explain all the most difficult problems of 
the universe, provided you omit to notice the facts 
on one side of the question. This book of Mr. 
Combe has had immense popularity with a certain 
class of minds, on account of its fertility in ex- 
planations, and its practical wisdom. To great 
multitudes, in fact, it has taken the place of the 
New Testament, as the guide of life. A useful 
book, no doubt, on the whole, but one the defects 
of which should be pointed out. These defects, 
as far as we are now concerned with them, con- 
sist in the denial of Providence. We do not mean 

particular) ProYidence. As regards Prayer, ^Mr. Combe 
contends that its efficacy is only on the mind of the suppli- 
cant, according to the view to be considered by us further 
on. 



combe's constitution of man. 91 

t!iat Mr. Combe denies what is usually called Gen- 
eral Providence, for this he teaches in the strong- 
est manner. That is, he teaches that, while the 
universe is controlled everywhere by laws, these 
laws have always a benevolent object. They are 
intended to do good, and they work good to races 
and classes always, though individuals are some- 
times sacrificed for the good of the whole. Thus, 
for example, it is a law of God that fire should 
burn and inflict great pain on the human body if 
exposed to it, and this is for the advantage of men, 
inasmuch 'as the pain is a warning to them to 
avoid this injury. But sometimes it happens that 
an individual may, without any fault, be seriously 
injured, and in this case, according to Mr. Combe, 
he is sacrificed for the good of the whole. It is 
something which cannot be helped, for such ex- 
ceptions are inevitable in the working of all gen- 
eral laws. This is the doctrine of a General Prov- 
idence. It is true as far as it goes, but it does 
not satisfy the needs of the religious mind. It 
does not accord with the doctrine of Jesus con- 
cerning the fatherly character of God, and his 
attention to details, his care for the lowliest indi- 
viduals, no less than for the progress of the whole. 
According to the teaching of Jesus, we are led to 
believe that all the events w^hich befall us have a 



92 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRATER 

special meaning, and a special value for ourselves. 
If we stop where Mr. Combe stops, while the Di- 
vine benevolence toward the race is maintained, 
the fatherly love of God for the individual is 
wholly omitted. Now we do not wish to deny 
the General Providence asserted by Mr. Combe. 
We accept his whole theory on its positive side, 
but omit its negations. For we have learned that 
the errors of almost every theory or system con- 
sist rather in what it rejects than in what it asserts, 
rather in its negations than its positions. In other 
words, the chief source of humsm error is not in 
the perversity, but rather in the limitations of the 
human intellect. One mind standing in a certain 
position sees one part of truth, and hastily rejects 
that part which from his present position he is un- 
able to perceive. Others, standing in a different 
place, see another side of truth, and perhaps, in 
asserting it, reject as hastily as the first that seen 
by others. Thus, if we could add together the 
assertions of different systems, and cancel their 
negations, we should come nearer to a perfect 
view of truth than in any other way. Thus, in 
the case before us, Mr. Combe and a certain class 
of minds, see God working by general laws, for 
the good of the whole. Another class of minds 
are led by their religious instincts, and by the 



GENERAL AND SPECIAL PROVIDENCE. 93 



language of the New Testament, to see God as 
the Friend of the individual, sending special bless- 
ings to meet special occasions. Is there any rea- 
son why these views shouH not be united ? Are 
they necessarily inconsistent with each other ? 
May not every event which takes place flow both 
from general providence, and also from particular 
providence, being in accordance with laws made 
for the good of the whole, and yet having a spe- 
cial meaning and value for the individual. Even 
a wise, kind parent, while enforcing laws in the 
family necessary for the comfort of the household, 
is able also to make them operate for the advan- 
tage of the individual child. How much more 
may the Infinitely Wise One be able to do this ! 
And if He is able to do it, certainly He must wish 
to do it. If the individual is ever sacrificed, in 
the slightest degree, for the good of the whole, it 
must be because the Deity cannot help it. But 
the possibility of such a union of good to the 
whole and good to the individual was believed 
by the wise, even before Jesus taught that ''not a 
sparrow falls without our Father,'' and that 
" every hair " of our head " is numbered." While 
we find in modern times one class contending 
that all events happen by natural laws, and that 
therefore there is nothing supernatural about 



94 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

them, and another class contending that some 
events have a supernatural source, and therefore 
are not according to natural laws, the wiser an- 
cients were willing to admit that events could be 
at once natural and supernatural. ' Thus Plutarch 
says * (speaking of those who were ancients and 
moderns to him) : " The men of old directed their 
attention simply to the divine in phenomena ; as 
God is the beginning and centre of all, and from 
him all things proceed ; and they overlooked nat- 
ural causes. The moderns turned themselves 
wholly away from that divine ground of things, 
and supposed eveiy thing could be explained 
from natural causes. Both these views are, how- 
ever, partial and defective, and the right under- 
standing of the matter requires that both should 
be combined." So too Hippocrates, t a contem- 
porary of Socrates, denied the discrepancy be- 
tween the natural and the supernatural, and treat- 
ed all phenomena as at once divine and also 
scientifically determinable. " All diseases," he 
says, " are divine, yet each has its own physical 
condition. All are from God, but none are with- 

* Quoted in Neander's Church History (Torrey's trans 
lation), Vol. 1. p. 23. 

t Quoted by Grote, History of Greece, Vol. I. p. 370 
(Boston edition). 



NATTJEAL AND SUPERNATURAL. 95 

out Nature." Thus, wiser than some of us, 
these deep thinkers knew 

" How to o'errule the hard divorce, 
Which parts things natural and divine." 

The difficulty thus urged as an objection to all 
special providence applies with equal force to 
any real answer to Prayer, and those who find 
difficulty in the former doctrine will find an equal 
difficulty in the latter. But we maintain that we 
may believe in God acting through natural laws 
for the general good of races, and also in God 
acting supernaturally in the sphere of Freedom 
for the special needs of individuals. When it is 
objected, that all such supernatural action implies 
a miracle, and that the days of miracles have 
ceased, we must ask in turn for the true meaning 
of a miracle. If a miracle means a violation or 
suspension of the laws of nature, then there 
would be a real contradiction between the Super- 
natural and the Natural, and belief in the one 
would so far nullify belief in the other. But if, 
as the better theologians of all schools maintain, 
a miracle is no violation of a law of nature, but 
the coming in of a new force from a higher 
sphere, which, while the old force, or law, works 
on, controls it according to the special need, then 



9b THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

there is no such contradiction. We may believe 
at the same time in God's natural and supernat- 
ural action. We may believe in general and 
special providence. We may believe in the nat- 
ural laws and also in the answer to Prayer. For, 
according to this view, miracles have not ceased, 
and never will cease until the God of Christian- 
ity abandons the world, and until living faith is 
no more found on the earth. For all Christian 
life is supernatural, flowing from a higher foun- 
tain than any on earth. It is a life hid with 
Christ in God. Therefore Luther contended that 
the true miracle of Christianity was the creation 
of spiritual life in the human soul, compared with 
which such outward miracles as the healing of 
the sick and walking on the water were quite 
secondary and unimportant. 

If we suppose, accordingly, that God steadily 
maintains the order of the universe and the laws 
of nature, but that beside this he continually 
sends new and special influences into the world 
of matter and of mind to meet the rising exigen- 
cies of the hour, and that this is no afterthought, 
but part of the great plan of the universe from 
the beginning, the conflict between the Natural 
and Supernatural falls to the ground. That God 
does influence the world from a realm of free- 



NATURAL AND SUPERNAl URAL. 97 



dom by ever-new creative activity, no less than 
from a realm of law, is not only asserted by 
Christian faith and needed by the human heart, 
but is demanded by the deepest philosophy. 
Thus Hase, a most clear-headed thinker, of the 
latest school of German thought, declares : " The 
government of a world, actuated by human free- 
dom, is only possible by means of an in working 
of Divine freedom. This inworking gives us the 
philosophical notion of a miracle, which there- 
fore can only be denied with the denial of Provi- 
dence itself" * And if we believe in human 
freedom, we have before our eyes the constant 
proof that the Natural can coexist and cooperate 
with the Supernatural. For human freedom is 
in the strictest sense a force which acts within 
nature, but from above nature. It is surrounded 
by laws, arid limited externally by the laws of 
organization and circumstances, but it cannot 
itself be brought under law. Every act of free- 
dom is a new creation, and wholly inexplicable. 
The moment that you explain it as resulting 
from any thing already in existence, you deny 
Freedom, and introduce Necessity. The moment 
you make outward motives' to be the cause of our 



* Hase, Lehrbuch der Dogmatik, § 1 50. 
9 



98 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

actions, and not merely the occasions, you deny, 
so far, human freedom. If this view be true, 
then every human being is himself an illustra- 
tion of the coexistence and harmony of the Nat- 
ural and the Supernatural. Part of his life is 
natural, resulting from organic tendencies, deter- 
mined by external motives, and another part is 
supernatural, the reaction of the free will and the 
power of choice. If man, therefore, himself can 
act in this world at the same time in a sphere of 
Freedom and of Law, shall we deny a like ca- 
pacity to God, and limit his activity to the sup- 
port of existing laws ? Much rather must the 
adequate view of the Deity suppose in Him the 
perfect harmony and absolute synthesis of law 
and freedom, — an infinite, creative activity, for 
ever combined with an unchanging support of the 
never-failing laws of the universe. 

But if, after all, we cannot fathom the depth of 
this mystery, we may console ourselves by such 
thoughts as these, which we commend to our 
friends for their refreshment : — 

" No human eyes Thy face may see ; 
No human thought Thy form may know; 
But all creation dwells in Thee, 
And Thy great Life through all doth flow I 



NATTJEAL LAWS. 



99 



' And yet, 0 strange and wondrous thought ! 
Thou art a God who hearest prayer. 
And every heart with sorrow fraught 
To seek thy present aid may dare. 

And though most weak our efforts seem 
Into one creed these thoughts to bind, 
And vain the intellectual dream 
To see and know the Eternal I\Iind, — 

" Yet Thou wilt turn them not aside 
Who cannot solve Thy life divine, 
But would give up all reason's pride 
To know theu' hearts approved by Thine." * 

The objection, that it is better for us' always to 
suffer the penalty resulting from an infraction of 
natural laws, than to have this penalty removed 
in answer to Prayer, requires a moment's consid- 
eration. ^True, the object of the penalty is benev- 
olent, and its tendency on the whole is beneficial. 
But when your child has burned himself, do you 
refuse to apply alleviation on this account ? Do 
you think it better that he should suffer the pen- 
alty to the full amount, or do you not rather 
hasten to the physician for relief? And if you 



* These beautiful lines first appeared in the " Book ot 
Hymns," published by Ticknor & Co., Boston, and were 
written, we think, by Kev. T. W. Higginson. 



L. Of c 



100 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 



know or believe that relief can also be obtained 
through Prayer, why not apply for it ? 

20. Psychological Objections. Human Free- 
dom, 

The next supposed objection to the efficacy of 
Prayer which we have to consider, is that derived 
from the fact of human freedom. This objec- 
tion is brought against any influence exerted by 
God directly on the human soul in answer to 
Prayer. It is argued, that such influence would 
interfere with human liberty. But to this objec- 
tion there are two replies. First, that an influ- 
ence exerted on the soul by God because we 
have asked for it, is of course an influence which 
we ourselves freely choose to receive. It is not 
given against our will, or without our consent. 
How, then, can it interfere with our freedom ? 
And secondly, this influence is not to be consid- 
ered, in any case, as compulsory. No Divine 
influence is irresistible ; no such influence para- 
lyzes the soul, or moves it, as a material sub- 
stance is moved by an outward force. We are 
not controlled by the Holy Spirit as the Jesuit 
was by his rule to be controlled by his superior, 
— blindly, passively, like a corpse. All Divine 
influence rouses, rather than represses, the ac- 



INFLUENCES. 



101 



tivity of the soul, develops its individuality, quick- 
ens its freedom. And do we not see that the law 
of influence is universal ? Every man whom we 
meet influences us, and we him. No one speaks 
to us, or even looks at us, but there is an influ- 
ence for good or evil exerted by his character 
upon ours. His character, or his transient mood, 
acts immediately upon ours. It expresses itself, 
not only in his words and actions, but in the tone 
of his voice and the expression of his eye. A 
serious, earnest man, a generous, kindly man, a 
truthful and sincere man, expresses these quali- 
ties by his whole manner and demeanor. Light 
flows from him, sunny light, to illuminate and 
cheer his whole horizon. In like manner, a 
worldly man, a sensualist, a selfish, hard-hearted 
man, one who habitually sneers at every thing 
noble and pure, rays out darkness like the wan- 
dering stars of the Apostle. Thus influence goes 
from us, falls from us with every word we speak, 
with every breath we draw. The orator is ad- 
dressing an audience of a thousand persons, and 
he sees some one coming in whose opinions and 
feelings he is acquainted with, and the presence 
of that single person modifies a little what he is 
about to say, or his manner of saying it. Thus 
are we surrounded from childhood to the grave 
9^ 



102 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

by influences, for good or evil perpetually acting 
upon us, not irresistible indeed, but inevitable ; 
and since every thing else thus influences us, 
shall God be the only being whose influence must 
be excluded ? Shall He exert no influence upon 
the souls of his children, to turn them from evil 
or lead them to good ? Shall we fear that his in- 
fluence, exerted in answer to Prayer, will inter- 
fere with our freedom, when our freedom remains 
to us in spite of all this ocean of influence flow- 
ing over us from every quarter and at every 
moment ? 

§21, Transcendental Objections, 

There is also a spiritual philosophy, which, by 
its view of God and of man, tends to a distrust 
in the efficacy of Prayer. Its view of God tends 
to Pantheism, its view of Man to Stoicism. It 
rejects from its idea of God the element of per- 
sonality, and regards him rather as essential Be- 
ing and the most abstract Spirit than as a per- 
sonal Father. It fears to degrade God by making 
him too much like ourselves, and shrinks from 
direct communion with him, as implying anthro- 
pomorphism. It dreads lest the pure and spiritual 
idea of God should be degraded by being mixed 
up with low desires and earthly cares. Its wor- 



TRANSCENDENTAL OBJECTIONS. 



103 



ship is adoration and submission, rather than sup- 
plication ; and its view of man is also opposed to 
any expectation of an answer to Prayer. Man, 
according to this philosophy, stands in the midst 
of the mighty and relentless forces of Nature, to 
make himself strong by patience, resolution, and 
unflinching fortitude. The wheels of Nature 
thunder on along their fixed path from century to 
century, and he who falls on them is broken 
while him whom they strike down is ground to 
powder. It is of no use to ask for mercy, for Na- 
ture gives no quarter. Her face, full of stony 
beauty, looks out relentless, with features un- 
changing as those of the Egyptian Sphinx. Man 
can only triumph over Fate by knowing it and 
bearing it. When he has made up his mind to 
acquiesce in events as they come, in things as 
they are, he has secured the highest moral tri- 
umph. It is easy to see how inevitably such a 
view of God, and such a theoiy of man and of 
human life, must tend to check all earnest prayer. 

In opposition to this view of life, so beautiful 
but so cold, w^e present the attitude assumed by 
Jesus toward God and toward life. He who said 
to the woman o^ Samaria, " God is Spirh," also 
taught his disciples to say, " Our Father." He 
who mccde it the centre of all supplication to pray 



104 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYEB 

that God's will should be done on earth as iu 
heaven, taught us in the next petition to ask for 
our daily bread. He who demanded, in view of 
the great emergencies and risks of life, a readi- 
ness for entire self-renunciation as the first con- 
dition of discipleship, nevertheless encouraged his 
followers to bring every desire of their heart be- 
fore God. As the entrance fee into his school, 
he demanded that they should be ready to hate 
father and mother, to give all their wealth away, 
to leave every thing, and to take up their cross. 
But having been found equal to this test, he laid 
on them no ascetic discipline, took them not 
away from the common scenes of life, and lived 
with them in cheerful communion with God and 
man. God was to him always the nearest friend ; 
and life was no fatal web, but a scene where, 
amid the steady operation of divine laws, there 
was still the freest scope for divine and human 
freedom. We conceive that it is only necessary 
to compare these two views of God and Nature, 
to see how much more large and human that of 
Christ is than the spiritual Stoicism we have been 
considering. 



PRAYER A REACTI N. 



105 



^ 22. Prayer a Reaction, — Objections to this 
Theory. 

To evade these supposed difficulties, two theo- 
ries have been very generally adopted in refer- 
ence to Prayer, which we will proceed to con- 
sider. The first denies all real influence from 
Prayer, except upon the soul itself in the way of 
reaction. It is supposed that the only benefit of 
Prayer is the eflect which it exerts upon the 
mind of the supplicant by its natural reaction. 
When he prays, his prayer affects himself, and 
not God. He asks for humility, and in the very 
act of asking makes himself humble. He asks 
for submission, and so puts himself into a sub- 
missive state of mind. According to this view, 
if we ask for any outward mercy, it must be in 
the most general terms, and then merely to cre- 
ate in our own minds confidence in the providen- 
tial care of God. If we intercede for others, it 
is merely to create in our own hearts feelings of 
sympathy and good- will towards them. Thus, a 
Doctor of Divinity and Professor of Theology in 
the College of Glasgow writes, in the middle of 
the last century : " God is not wrought upon and 
changed by our prayers. Prayer only works its 
effect upon us as it contributes to change the 



106 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

temper of our minds, to beget or improve right 
dispositions in them," &c. The writer, being 
accused of heresy for these views, was con- 
demned by the Presbytery. He appealed to the 
Synod, and was acquitted, and the General As- 
sembly refused to alter the judgment of the Syn- 
od. The same view is taught by Dr. Blair, who 
says : " The change which our devotions are in- 
tended to make is upon ourselves, not upon the 
Almighty. Their chief efficacy is derived from 
the good dispositions which they raise and cher- 
ish in the human soul," &;c.__^o Lord Karnes _ 
writes : "^The Being that made the world gov- 
erns it fey laws that are inflexible, because they 
are the best ; ^nd to imagine that he can be 
moved by prayers, oblations, or sacrifices to vary 
his plan of government, is an impious thought, # 
degrading the Deity to a level with ourselves." ^ 
His reason for prayer is, that it cultivates, by 
exercise, a devout habit of mind, and tends to 
purify it. Now there is nothing untrue in any 
of these statements in what they assert. It is 
true that prayer itself exercises a wholesome in- 
fluence on the mind. He who prays opens his 
heart to God, and so is made ready to receive 
spiritual influences. But to make ourselves ready 
and fit to receive an influence is a different thing 



PRAYER ONLY A REACTION. 107 



from giving this influence to ourselves. Prayer 
opens the heart to God ; and when the heart is 
open, God will come in. .But the opening of the 
door is one thing, and the entrance . of the guest 
another. ^ 

One objection to this view of Prayer is, that it 
was not that of Jesus. His language plainly 
teaches, not that by assuming the attitude of 
prayer we shall Jmagnetize our own mind, but 
that, if we pray, God^^^^fr^ve, in consequence of 
our prayer, that which he would not give, or 
might not give, otherwise. And it is a very dif- 
ferent thing, as regards the character of the pray- 
er itself, which of these views we adopt. If we 
take the view of Jesus, we shall feel ourselves 
really in the presence of God, and shall be ex- 
pecting to receive an influence from Him in our 
soul. If we adopt the other view, we shall feel 
that we are alone with ourselves, and shall be 
endeavoring to exert a beneficial influence on our 
own minds. 

' I think it is evident, that, with this view of 
Prayer, the tendency would be to discontinue it. 
Sincere and truthful men would find it hard to 
assume the appearance of asking God for that 
which, in reality, they expected to procure for 
themselves. ^They would find, or feel, a certain 



108 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

insincerity in such a course. The natural methoJ 
with such a view of self-improvement would be 
meditation rather than prayer. We believe that, 
wherever these views have prevailed, they have 
had such an influence. Men holding such views 
may indeed continue to pray from the natural 
instinct of the human heart, but all that energy 
will be taken out of prayer which comes from 
belief in its real efficiency to obtain from God 
what we need. 

This theory of Prayer is founded by the writers 
above quoted on two ideas. First, that prayer 
cannot produce any effect upon God ; and second, 
that it cannot induce him to change his plans. 
# But what reason have we to say that prayer can- 
not affect God. * Is the Divine nature such that it 
is destitute of sympathy, or does the perfection 
of God consist in not being moved to feeling by 
the earnest cry of his child ? Such is not the 
view given in the New Testament of the Deity, 
and there is no reason to doubt that the Divine 
nature, in its infinite grandeur and glory, is not 
cold or insusceptible, but, far more than ours, is 
capable of being moved by the emotions even of 
the lowest of his creatures. V As regards the other 
idea, it is true that our prayers will not induce 
God to change his plans-i,^ but it may be a part of 



PRAYER FOR SPIRITITAL BLESSINGS. 109 



his plan to give us when we ask that which he 
would not otherwise bestow. And if this be a 
part of God's plan, then his immutability requires 
that he should change his course of conduct 
towards us because we pray. | He adheres to his 
plan, by yielding to our prayef. 

§ 23. Prayer should he only for Spiritual Bless* 
ings, — Ohjections to this View. 

The other theory of Prayer, which many have 
adopted to escape supposed difficulties, is that 
which makes it proper only to ask for spiritual 
blessings, and not for temporal. Or, if we ask at 
all for temporal things, for outward mercies for 
ourselves or others, it should be, according to this 
theory, in the most general terms, and not with 
the expectation of really obtaining them by means 
of our prayer. This view is supported by many 
considerations. It is said that Jesus, where he 
promises that if we ask we shall receive, is speak- 
ing of the gift of the Holy Spirit, — that is, of 
spiritual blessings, and not of temporal. It is 
urged that we may a-sk in faith for purity, for 
love, for strength to resist evil, because we know 
that these are good for us, but that we cannot 
know, in regard to any temporal blessing, whether 
it is really a blessing or not. It is argued, that to 

10 



110 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

ask God for outward things is a selfish and there** 
fore not a Christian prayer, and that it is opposed 
to that trust in God which Jesus enjoins, when he 
says, Take no thought for your life what ye 
shall eat, nor yet for your body what ye shall put 
on ; for your Father knoweth that ye have need 
of these things." It is also argued that such a 
view of Prayer is too calculating, and not suffi- 
ciently spontaneous. 

To these objections we reply, that, though Jesus 
speaks of the Holy Spirit in Luke xi. 13, he uses 
a more general expression in Matt. vii. 11, and 
that he both taught and showed, by his own ex- 
ample, at other times, that it was right also to pray 
for temporal needs. The Apostles sought help 
from God, and found it, in their outward necessi- 
ties, and taught, even when laying the most stress 
upon works, that prayer also for the sick would 
effect their cure. It is true that we never can be 
sure that it is best for us to receive any temporal 
enjoyment, and therefore we ought always to 
pray, as Jesus prayed, submissively ; asking that 
God's will, and not our will, should be done. But 
we see by the example of Jesus in the Garden, 
that a submissive prayer for outward things may 
be also a very earnest prayer. It may be that it 
would be an injury to us, and not an advantage, to 



SPIRITTTAL AND TEMPORAL BLESSINGS. Ill 



obtain that for which we ask, and then if we ask 
m submission to God's wisdom and will, we shall 
not be cursed with an answered prayer. But it 
may be, on the other hand, that what we ask for 
is something that it would be really good for U3 
to receive in answer to prayer, — something which 
God means that we should obtain by praying, — 
something which, thus obtained, will bring the 
soul nearer to him by its gratitude. So that there 
is danger on both sides ; on one side danger of 
asking for something which we ought not to have, 
on the other side, danger of not receiving what 
would be good for us because we omit to ask for 
it. As the Apostle says, " Ye have not because 
ye ask not." (James iv. 2.) The only way of es- 
caping both dangers is by asking earnestly, but 
submissively, for every thing which we think we 
need. And perhaps we may say, that we cannot 
be always certain that it is best for us to receive 
any particular spiritual blessing. Law, in his 
" Spirit of Prayer," has a fine passage, in which 
he argues that, though raptures of piety are 
often good for the soul, seasons of coldness and 
spiritual desolation may also be often good, and 
even better for the soul than the other, as produ- 
cing a more entire dependence on God than could 
otherwise be obtained. The same thing also may 



112 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

be intended by the Apostle where he speaks of 
some temptation in the flesh (Gal. iv. 14), which 
seems to have been the evil from which he prayed 
thrice to be delivered, but had the answer, that 
God's strength was made perfect in his weakness. 
Therefore, if the fact that we know not whether 
any outward event may be really good for us to 
receive is a reason for not asking, the same rea- 
son may be urged against asking for any particu- 
lar spiritual thing. As regards the selfishness of 
such prayers, we may reply, that it is certainly 
wrong to ask either for temporal or spiritual 
things selfishly ; and as wrong in the latter case 
as in the former. To pray simply for our own 
sake to be saved from spiritual evil, is no more a 
Christian prayer, than to pray in the same manner 
to be saved from temporal evil. In both cases, 
the prayer beginning with the selfish need rises 
above it and goes beyond it. It asks for spiritual 
or for temporal good, for health of soul or health 
of body, in order to use them in the service of 
Christ and of man. And in both cases the prayer 
has the effect of lifting us out of that selfishness 
from which it began. And therefore we are not 
more selfish because we express these desires and 
needs to God, but less so. The selfish desire we 
have. The question is, whether we shall let it 



PRAYER FOR TEMPORAL THINGS. 113 

remain in the soul as a selfish wish, or, by ex- 
pressing it to God, have it changed into a Chris- 
tian, that is, a generous prayer. The objection, 
that to pray for temporal things is inconsistent 
with ihe command of Christ to take no thought 
concerning them because God knows that we have 
need of all these things, falls to the ground when 
we look at the meaning and reason of this com- 
mand. The meaning is, that we are not to be 
anxious concerning outward things. And this is 
also true of spiritual things ; for anxiety is as in- 
jurious in the one case as in the other. The 
command is to trust in God, and certainly Chris- 
tianity requires us to trust in God with regard to 
the needs of the soul, no less than with regard to 
the needs of the body. The reason given is, that 
our Father knows that we have need of all these 
things ; and certainly he knows also that we have 
need of spiritual things. This command, there- 
fore, cannot establish a distinction between out- 
ward and inward blessings, so as to make it prop- 
er to pray for these, and not for those. And as 
regards the other objection, that Prayer would be- 
come a matter of calculation, and that this view 
is a utilitarian view, making it a contrivance for 
obtaining what we want, we would reply only, 
that, as a matter of necessity, a large part of life 

10* 



114 THF. CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

must belong to the sphere of prudence, if another 
part belongs to that of spontaneity ; and that 
therefore the question merely is whether this cal- 
culating part of life shall or shall not be excluded 
from the domain of Prayer. 

Here, in fact, is the reason of prayer for tem- 
poral things. A large part of our life is necessa- 
rily occupied with them. God has made it so, 
and it is right that it should be so. He has so 
made us that we should be filled with an ardent 
interest in the persons and the events which sur- 
round us in life. He has enjoined no stoical in- 
difference in regard to them. The Earth, full of 
beauty, full of wonder, was meant to interest the 
human soul, and draw out its faculties. Society, 
friendship, and love, all family affections, all so- 
cial and national interests, were divinely bestowed 
upon man. Since, therefore, God has so made 
us that we must feel interested in these things, 
and means that we shall be interested in them, 
the question is. Shall we bring these interests to 
him or not ? Shall we ask his sympathy and 
help in regard to them, or not. If not, then how 
large a part of the love, the wish, the purpose X)f 
the soul, which is its life, is shut out from God ! 
How much of life is thereby desecrated and 
made unchristian ! This view of Prayer is, in 



PRAYER FOR TEMPORAL THINGS. 115 

fact, only the reappearance in a new form of that 
idea of Christianity which divorced it from life, 
making one holy and the other profane. It is 
the same pernicious view which has taken relig- 
ion out of week-days and confined it to Sundays, 
— out of the shop and street and shut it in the 
church, — out of the world of acting, loving, suf- 
fering man, and placed it in the small conventi- 
cle, the narrow sect. But Christ, when on earth, 
utterly discountenanced this view. He was pres- 
ent then at the marriage-feast, at the house of 
the publican, conversing with the sinners, and 
why not now } Then they prayed to him for 
help in outward, temporal necessities, and why 
not ask help in the same necessities now ^ Then 
he praised the faith of those who asked such 
temporal aid. Was it praiseworthy then to be- 
lieve that the Divine Power would be exerted to 
cure disease, and is it wr9ng to believe it now ? 
While answering such prayers and meeting such 
necessities of the present life, Jesus raised the 
thoughts of those whom he helped to higher ne- 
cessities and higher blessings, and would not a 
like result obtain still } 



116 



CHAPTER IV. 

PREPARATIONS FOR PRAYER. 

§ 24. General Remarks, 

Having thus considered the doctrine of the 
New Testament concerning Prayer, and ex- 
amined the chief difficuhies and objections, we 
pass on to consider the conditions and helps. 
Mental difficulties having been removed, moral 
difficulties present themselves, lying, perhaps, far 
deeper. For the moral preparation for prayer is 
more important than the intellectual preparation, 
and after all intellectual difficulties have been re- 
moved, greater difficulties may remain, arising 
from the state of the heart and the purposes. 
For it is evident that, if the prayer is to be any 
thing more than an outward form, it must be the 
expression of some real want. Every one knows 
that to say our prayers is not to pray ; that words 
without thoughts never to heaven go. But it is 
not as often understood, that thoughts without af- 



MORAL PREPARATION. 



117 



fections are equally far from constituting a true 
prayer. We are very apt to confound an intel- 
lectual approbation of goodness with the desire 
for goodness. We ask for that which our con- 
science and moral sense teach us that we ought 
to pray for, and are satisfied with this, as though 
we had really prayed. But it is one thing to see 
what we ought to wish, and another thing to wish 
for it. To confound the two is to mistake the 
preparation of prayer for prayer itself. To 
meditate upon our wants, our sins, our occasions 
of gratitude, is a veiy good preparation for prayer, 
but it is not till meditation becomes affection that 
prayer really begins. But there is a still more 
subde self-deception, which needs to be guarded 
against. We are often in danger of mistaking 
sentimental prayer for the prayer of conviction, 
faith, and love. There is in man a natural senti- 
ment of religion, a feeling of reverence, which 
is more or less easily roused according to his or- 
ganization. This also forms a good preparation 
for prayer and for the religious life. But these 
sentiments will not, by themselves, constitute 
Christian prayer. They are too much on the 
surface of the mind. They are too much mere 
emotion. They do not permanently connect 
themselves with the character. The true prayer, 



118 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

as we have seen, the only real Christian prayer, 
the only efficient prayer, the only prayer worth 
praying, is not the prayer of form, but of faith ; 
not the prayer of the intellect, but of the heart ; 
not flowing from a transient emotion, but from a 
permanent purpose ; not originating in the senti- 
ment of veneration, but in the Christian aim of 
life. How important, then, for true prayer is its 
preparation, and especially its moral preparation. 
All the difficulty lies here. The preparation for 
prayer being made, prayer itself comes sponta- 
neously. No one need ever try to pray, for 
prayer is a free movement of the soul ; but we 
may and must exert ourselves in making the 
moral preparation, and removing the moral ob- 
stacles in the way of prayer. Therefore, medi- 
tation and self-examination are always requisite 
as helps to prayer. The object of self-examina- 
tion IS to test our purposes and our desires ; to 
see where we are and which way we are going, 
to deepen our convictions in regard to the pres- 
ence of God and the eternal world. And more 
particularly as we have seen that three things are 
necessary to Christian prayer, — spirit, truth, and 
faith, — it is the object of our meditation to pre- 
pare ourselves as regards each of these essential 
elements of prayer. 



ORGANIC PREPARATIONS. 



119 



<5> 25. Organic and Psychologic Preparations. 

Some years since, when the writer of this essay 
resided in a Western city, a distinguished Phre- 
nologist visited the place, and made an examina- 
tion of the heads of six Protestant clergymen. He 
pronounced them all deficient in the organ of Rev- 
erence or Veneration, said they had no devotional 
tendencies by nature, and added, that they ought 
not, any of them, to have become clergymen. 
And, what is more remarkable, all of these six 
clergymen admitted the correctness of his ob- 
servation. They all declared it to be true that 
they had no special devotional or religious ten- 
dencies by nature, and that their religion had 
come to them, not in the way of development, but 
in that of crisis. As one of these clergymen, 
however, while admitting the fact as regarded 
myself, I denied the inference. For I believed 
that a person might be as well fitted for the office 
of a clergyman, whose religion was a matter of 
experience and conviction, — born out of the 
struggles of life, out of self-conflict and earnest 
endeavor, — as if it had grown up out of a large 
organic tendency. More 60, perhaps ; for such a 
man would be better qualified to meet the needs 
of others, who had felt in himself, in distinct 



120 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

throes of consciousness, the birth of the religious 
life, than if it had come to him as a special gift 
of nature. 

Nevertheless, it is certain that there are or- 
ganic and psychological preparations for prayer, 
which differ in every individual. Over these he 
has no power, and for the possession or absence 
of these he is not responsible. It is desirable 
that this should be understood, for many persons 
torment themselves needlessly, because they do 
not find in themselves the same devotional ten- 
dencies which they observe in others. On the 
other hand, those in whom the devotional senti- 
ment is in surplus by natural endowment may 
be contented to rest therein, and so make of 
prayer a purely sentimental exercise and enjoy- 
ment. To avoid these errors, we must learn to 
distinguish between the glow of the organic ten- 
dency, the warmth of the sentiment, on one hand, 
and the earnestness which is given to prayer by 
conviction, purpose, and the stress of life. The 
organic tendency is a beautiful one, and if we 
possess it largely, is one for which we ought to 
be profoundly grateful. It leads us to look up- 
ward toward that which is above us, — leads us 
to reverence parents, superiors, heroes, saints, 
men of genius and greatness, men of virtue, — 



I 



ORGANIC PREPARATIONS. - 121 

and finally to adore and worship the Most High, 
and to find happiness therein. This sentiment is 
the crown of the moral nature ; it gives harmony 
to the whole character, — eliminates all that is ab- 
rupt, harsh, coarse, and low ; by giving humility 
it gives dignity, for it is a law of nature that those 
who humble themselves are exalted. This senti- 
ment causes one to take pleasure in prayer, espe- 
cially in that part of prayer which consists in 
adoration. As those who have much of this ex- 
quisite sentiment enjoy the sight, thought, and 
presence of venerable men, — love to be with the 
old, the wise, the honorable, — so they love to be 
in the presence of God. A tone of fair humili- 
ty, of beautiful up -looking, pervades their pray- 
ers. But this action of this sentiment does not 
constitute the essence of prayer, nor give its sub- 
stance ; it only makes at most its element and 
sphere. It is a preparation for prayer, — leading 
us to recognize gladly God's presence, and open- 
ing the soul to meet him. But we may be glad 
to be in a person's presence, when we have 
nothing to say to him. And if we have nothing 
to say to him, we cannot have communion with 
him, — there is no real intercourse. We may talk 
to him, and look at him, and love to contemplate 
his face, and study his character ; but this is 
11 



122 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTHINE OF PEAYEB, 

only a preparation for intercourse, it is not inter- 
course itself. Some person who never saw him 
before, and who has not half the regard for him 
or respect which we have, may come to him on 
important business, and have a real intercourse 
with him, which we have never had. 

It is necessary to undei*stand this distinction 
between the prayer of natural sentiment, and the 
prayer of conviction, in order that those who are 
deficient in this beautiful tendency may not be 
discouraged thereby, and those who possess it not 
unduly self-satisfied. If we are thus endowed, 
we may be thankful for the gift, and find it a 
preparation for intercourse with the Heavenly 
Father. But if we are not thus endowed, it does 
not follow that we cannot pray, nor even that we 
cannot pray whh depth and power. Conviction, 
purpose, a right direction of heart and life, will 
make our prayers genuine and joyful ; though 
the natural sensibility which we obsen'e in others 
is wanting. 

But there are other organic faculties beside 
this tendency to adoration and reverence, which 
make a preparation for prayer. There are also 
tendencies to Hope and to Fear, the sense of 
Beauty and of Recthude, and perhaps other powers 
and sensibilities which belong to the original en- 



ORGANIC PREPARATIONS. 



123 



dowments of the individual. When these, or 
either of these, are in large proportion, we can 
easily trace their influence in the devotional 
character. Hope gives confidence to prayer, 
causes it to rise joyfully to heaven. Fear makes 
prayer more urgent, more clinging and persever- 
ing. The sense of Beauty gives elevation and a 
picturesque coloring to the petitions and utter- 
ances. Conscientiousness makes the tone of 
confession more profound and sincere, makes the 
dedication of self to the will of God more earnest. 
Thus variously does Nature prepare us for en- 
tering the world of higher truth, and so does 
she prophesy, in her sure instincts, the food which 
is to be given to supply them. Only let us not 
mistake the instinct and tendency for its comple- 
tion, the prophecy for its fulfilment. 

Unquestionably all these faculties can be culti- 
vated, they are all susceptible of education and 
improvement. But as no amount of education 
csan make of some men great poets, orators, 
statesmen, — as no amount of culture can com- 
municate to some persons a taste for science, 
mathematics, mechanics, — so to many persons 
no culture can convey the strong devotional ten- 
dencies which others inherit from nature. Let 
us be satisfied, therefore, that, beautiful as these 



124 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

tendencies are, they are not essential for com* 
munion with God ; that, excellent as are these 
preparations of piety, there is another and " a 
more excellent way." 

It is often said that woman is naturally more 
religious by nature than man. If Religion is 
here used in its large sense, as denoting our re- 
lations to God of love, trust, obedience, then 
the statement is manifestly untrue. At least it 
seems to us incredible, that the Deity should 
make such a distinction in the endowments of 
those who were intended to be helpmeets to each 
other in all things. But if it means that woman 
has a stronger tendency than man to the exercises 
of public worship, and finds more pleasure than 
man in adoration, there is no doubt that the 
statement is correct. The beautiful faculty of 
Reverence is more native to woman than to man. 
And for this endowment she may well be grate- 
ful, and, understanding its limitations, use it for her 
own elevation and that of her companion and 
children. 

§ 26. Preparation of the Heart. 

Let us now pass on to more important parts of 
the preparations of Prayer. These are of the 
Heart, Mind, and Will. In all these there is 



PEEPAEATION OF HEART. 125 



needed a general and a special preparation. We \^ X3 

need, in general, to have the right Love, Belief, 

and Purpose, embodied in the tenor of our life, 

in order to pray aright. But as the cares and 

pleasures and occupations of the world confuse 

and dim these fundamental convictions and de- 

sires, they need to be refreshed by special effort, 

in order that our daily prayers may flow up out r- " ' 

of the true fountains. 

First, therefore, of the Preparation of Heart, j 
It is clear that we cannot ask for any thing ear- P 
nestly except we wish for it, — and that therefore ^ 
except we are in our heart loving and seeking 
for spiritual things, we cannot sincerely ask for 
them. This is the truth in the apparently harsh / 
doctrine that the ^prayers of the unregenerate are 1^ 
of no avail, and |that an unconverted person has % 
no right to pray. | False as the doctrine is in this 
form, it involves a truth, — namely, that to pray 
to any good purpose, the general wish and desire 
of our soul must be for goodness. For in the 
first place, the main objects of Christian supplica- 
tion and thanksgiving are spiritual blessings, and 
if we do not love them, we can be sincere neither 
in asking for them nor in' returning thanks for 
them. And again, when asking for temporal 
blessings, we cannot ask for them in faith, unless 
11* 



126 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTKINE OF PEAYER 

we ask in a Christian spirit. So that he only can 
pray heartily, whose heart is right with God, — 
who is, in the deepest tendency of his hidden 
life, longing to know and love and serve God, els 
his main joy. The first preparation for prayer is 
to have this deep inner life of love. Out of this 
life, gratitude, supplication, confession, easily 
flow. The tendency of the soul being upward, 
the thoughts ascend easily, by their proper mo- 
tion toward heaven, whenever the events of daily 
life supply the occasion. But where this tenden- 
cy does not exist, there is always an effort re- 
quired for prayer. In the one case the thoughts, 
like Milton's angels, tend naturally upward, by a 
specific levity, and descent or fall to them is ad- 
verse. In the other case, they tend downward 
by a specific gravity, toward the earthly end, the 
personal gratification, the egotistical triumph. 

But supposing the main purpose and aim of 
life to be directed toward truth and right, the 
main current of the heart to be setting toward 
God and heaven, still it will happen that there 
will be eddies here and there running the other 
way. Often it will happen that we shall find 
ourselves for the time estranged from God, and 
then we shall often make the discover}^ of our 
estrangement by its effect upon our prayers. We 



PREPARATION OF THE MIND. 127 

find it difficult to pray, — we have nothing to say, 
— we pray from our memory of past needs, 
rather than from a sense of present ones. Our 
words mount up, our thoughts remain below. 
This state of mind indicates the estrangement of 
our heart from God, and warns us to return. 
Then a special preparation becomes necessary. 
We pray God to teach us how to pray. We re- 
flect on our real needs till the desire for pardon, 
peace, the restoration of inward life, returns. We 
examine our past thoughts and actions till we dis- 
cover what it is which has led us away from the 
true path. And so out of a genuine humility 
there springs up once more a sincere desire, and 
our prayer again becomes an utterance of the 
heart. 

§ 27. Preparation of the Mind. 

The mental preparation for prayer is given by 
the Apostle when he says, that " they who come 
to God must believe that he is, and that he is the 
rewarder of all those who diligently seek him." 
To pray, we must not only wish for what we pray, 
but believe that there is One who will give it in 
consequence of our asking. The former part of 
this essay has been intended to produce this 
conviction. But still special mental preparations 



128 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

are often necessary before the act of prayer, — a 
collecting of our thoughts, a consideration of our 
needs, a meditation on our circumstances. 

First, consider the importance of preparation. 

Prayer is the highest act of the human soul, 
the most sublime moment in human life, the most 
wonderful privilege of man. It certainly gives a 
singular dignity to " the awful soul which dwells 
in clay," it certainly tends to destroy the vain 
distinctions of our outward life, and to inspire us 
with a just respect for the meanest of our fellow- 
creatures, to know that this high privilege belongs 
to all. That forlorn wretch, who has no human 
friend, may dwell in intimate friendship with 
the Sovereign of the world, — that ignorant mind, 
in helpless darkness as regards all earthly knowl- 
edge, may possess himself of the highest idea in 
the universe, — that sinner, whom even good 
men shrink from, may commune intimately with 
the All-Holy, the All-Glorious. But in propor- 
tion to the greatness and blessedness of this priv- 
ilege, its perversion is the more deplorable. 
There is nothing in the world more ineffably 
blessed and sublime than true prayer. But when 
prayer becomes a form, a ceremony, a cold task, 
a decency, an external duty, it is the most offen 
sive of human falsehoods. Mock not God, de 



SPECIAL MENTAL PREPARATION. 129 

grade not yourselves, by such prayers as these. 
A prayer which is felt to be merely a form comes 
over the soul of the sincere man like a freezing 
blast from a sea of ice. We wish to stop our 
ears and flee away from it. 

Prayer is approaching voluntarily the Holiest 
and Loftiest Being. You would not run heedlessly 
into the presence of an eminent person, — you 
would not go to visit a great or good man without 
some consideration of what you should say to 
him. You would wish to dress your mind in its 
best thoughts, to lay before him your choicest 
and most valued knowledge ; you would wish to 
be in a calm, and true, and gentle mood. Is not 
equal reverence due to God ? Prayer also is a 
great action. It requires energy to pray. It re- 
quires us to concentrate and direct our mind 
toward the Unseen, the Spiritual, the Infinite ; and 
with earnest effort to carry up our thoughts, our 
needs, our love. But how often we pray without 
any such preparation, because the usual time for 
prayer has arrived > Such prayers must very 
often be false and hollow, made up of words of 
wind. If we were always in a spiritual frame, no 
preparation would be necessary. But until we 
attain that spiritual state, until we become perfect 
men in Christ Jesus, until our whole life becomes 



130 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

a prayer and a psalm, we should make a prep- 
aration, if only for a few moments, before every 
prayer. We should turn in, and examine our 
state of mind, and see whether we are ready ta 
perform this high act. 

Next consider the nature of this preparation. 

It should consist, first, in realizing the pres- 
ence of God. " He that cometh to God must be- 
lieve that he is," — and that not merely in the 
cold and heartless assent of the intellect to the 
theological assertion that there is a First Cause. 
No. But if your mind has been separated from 
God by low cares, by worldly labors, if you have 
lost the sense of his great Presence, — turn in, 
— realize now where you are, who is near you, 
whose eye is upon you. That ever open eye, 
to whose glance the night shineth as the day, 
that dread Presence which walks unseen on our 
right hand and our left, that awful and Infinite 
Being who holds us in the hollow of his hand, — 
realize that He is very nigh thee, — not afar off 
upon some distant throne, but giving thee the very 
breath which speaks his praise, moving the 
very pulse which throbs in warm gratitude to 
him, the life of thy life ! Thus let thy words 
not be sent forth into a void inane to search for a 
distant Power, but breathed reverently to Him 
who knows the unuttered thought. 



SPECIAL PREPARATIONS. 



13. 



Then, when we realize that we are in God's 
presence, let us also realize why we pray, what 
we need, — let us understand ourselves. Perhaps 
it is the close of the day. It has been a day of 
toil and of care ; but now we are at its close, — 
the world is shut out, and we are alone with 
hearts which beat in warm sympathy with our 
own. We are about to thank God ; but let us 
see first whether we are ready to thank him with 
our hearts. Are we really sensible of the love 
which has attended us through the day ? are 
we sensible that it was GocTs love which wel- 
comed us in the cheerful morning from the fresh 
air and the bright sky, — that it was GocVs love 
which shone upon us from the kind eyes of earth- 
ly affection, or when in a friend's words, in a book 
which we opened for a moment, a thought came 
to us of high and generous virtue, which inspired 
us for the moment with a breathing after the 
same ? We were in a gloomy mood, dispirited 
and sad, and a letter was brought to us, the words 
of which lay warm at our heart for hours. In 
all these events, and a thousand like events, do 
we stop with the earthly cause, or have we pene- 
trated through to the Heavenly Cause } If we 
have seen God in these gifts, then we shall thank 
him sincerely now. So, too, in our prayer we 



132 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

are about to confess our sins. But, first, let us be 
sure that v^e feel our sins. Do we think how, all 
through this day, our feelings have been morose, 
our temper fretful, our words harsh and unkind 
so that on the whole we have been making all 
around us unhappy rather than increasing their 
joy } Do we remember that we missed oppor- 
tunities to-day, through our selfishness or indo- 
lence, of doing actions which would have made 
others happier or better, — opportunities which 
we shall never have again } Do we remember 
how our proud, careless words have led others 
to make light of sin, — have weakened then 
principles ? Do we remember having acted the 
part of Satan to any, tempting them to evil 
instead of strengthening them for good } Do we 
remember how our duties, even when done, have 
been done with the hand rather than the heart, 
coldly and mechanically } Do we remember all 
the careless words we have spoken, some of 
which were barbed arrows of unkind surmise, of 
harsh and cruel judgment } It was our duty this 
day to have loved God with all our mind, heart, 
soul, and strength, and our neighbor as ourself. 
Alas ! where has our love been } Perhaps we 
have not thought of God at all. Perhaps we 
have only thought of our neighbor to use him for 



SPECIAL PREPARATIONS. 



133 



our profit, to sneer at his character, to wound his 
feelings. 

I think if we ask ourselves such questions as 
these, that we shall be able to say with sincerity 
in our prayer, " God be merciful to me a sin- 
ner!" 

And then, also, we propose to ask God to de- 
liver us from evil and make us pure and holy. 
But let us be sure that we really wish to be deliv- 
ered from evil, that we are really conscious of 
the guilt and woe of sin, that we are deeply sub- 
missive to the will of God, and are ready to have 
him do with us what he will. If we have no 
strong desire for redemption, no hunger and 
thirst after righteousness, no purpose of self-con- 
secration and submission, it is worse than vain to 
utter the toords of petition. Let us then realize 
how much we need Divine help and the spirit of 
God in our hearts to form them anew into the 
image of his Son. Let us look forward to the 
duties which lie before us, to the judgment which 
is to come, to the accountabilities we are under. 
Judging by the past, we may see how unfit we 
are to meet these duties and responsibilities, how 
certainly we shall always fail in the hour of 
temptation, as we always have fallen, unless 
God shall create in us a new heart, inspire us 

12 



134 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

with a deeper faith, stronger convictions of the 
danger and guilt of sin, and a more solemn sense 
of eternal realities. Such reflections as these 
will make us in earnest, when we ask Divine 
help and succor. 

§ 28. Experience. — Out of the Depths. 

A further preparation may come to us out of the 
deeper experiences of life. We may pray sincere- 
ly, but superficially, from the surface rather than 
from the depths of the mind. We may pray from 
our perception of what is right and true, rather 
than from a deep feeling of it. But when we can 
say with the Psalmist, " Out of the depths have I 
cried unto thee, O God ! " then we have achieved 
also the moral preparation for prayer, the prepa- 
ration of a moral experience. Then we acquire 
the habit of prayer out of the deep places of life, 
and the deep places of the heart. 

There are deep places in life. For years we 
pass on in a circle of routine, until we reach a 
crisis. Sometimes years of cloudless prosperity 
are at once interrupted by a succession of 
troubles,, as the smooth stream of a river is 
broken by rapids and hurried suddenly down a 
cataract. The happy family is entered by Death, 
— father, mother, children, are snatched away 



OUT OF THE DEPTHS. 



135 



from that loving circle. Love is disappointed, — 
hopes are frustrated, — prosperity ceases, — ad- 
versity comes,-' — sickness despoils us of our en- 
ergies. In such hours we seem to descend, step 
by step, into still more profound depths of trial 
and sorrow. But from these depths the heart 
sees God more clearly than from the sunny 
hill-tops of a happy life, — as persons can see 
the stars at midday from the bottom of a well. 
When all around us grows dark, the inward light 
grows stronger and clearer. When man deceives 
us, God is faithful. When Death approaches us 
outwardly, the idea of Immortal Life dawns, in 
pure auroral light, within the heart. In such 
hours we learn to pray. 

But there are deeps lower than those of 
trouble and outward affliction, — moments in 
which, though no external trouble comes near us, 
inward joy departs. | There are depths of scepti- 
cism which the soul of man has sometimes to 
pass, in his pilgrim's progress toward God J — 
I depths in which we lose our faith in God, in 
man, in ourselves, — in which we ask for the 
meaning of the world, and find none, — in which 
all things seem full of vanity and emptiness, and 
we cause our heart to despair of all its labor 
which it takes under the sun. Blacker than 



136 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 



Egyptian darkness is this mental gloom, which 
sometimes settles, for a time, upon the purest and 
most aspiring minds, ^z^^^.^^^i^'^'- 

" A grief without a pang, void, dark, and drear, 
A stifled, drowsy, unimpassioned grief, 
Which finds no natural outlet, no relief 
In word, or sigh, or tear." 

In this condition of scepticism, when we are like 
children lost in a forest, what can we do but 
cry to God ? This is the remedy, this the cure. 
It is not reasoning or argument which can help 
us in this disease, but Prayer. If we have 
faith enough left to cry to God, Peace and Light 
may then return to us. 

But below this depth there is yet another, — 
the depth of Sin. What a terrible moment is 
that which reveals to us our sins, — which shows 
us how we have been selfish and ungrateful, 
proud and vain, worldly and frivolous ! Some- 
times the veil seems to be taken from our heart, 
and a mirror put before it, and we see our own 
wilfulness and selfishness. There they pass be- 
fore us, in long procession, our vanished years ; 
each turning upon us a sad, reproachful face, as 
though it said, " Why did you lose my golden 
opportunities ? why fill my hours with thought- 
less folly ? why suffer me to be stained with 



OTJT OF THE DEPTHS. 



137 



evil thought and action ? " The sin which, when 
we committed it, we excused so easily, and 
thought so lightly of, now stands before us dark 
and terrible. Conscious of our degradation, of 
our lost innocence, of our chilled affections and 
debased purposes, what can we do, in this mo- 
ment of remorse, but cry unto God 7 Out of this 
deep too we may cry, and be heard. He who 
stood afar off, and smote upon his breast, saying, 
" God be merciful to me, a sinner ! " — he went 
down to his house justified, rather than the other. 
But if there are these depths of sorrow, there 
are deep places of joy also aloag our pathway, — 
when life becomes suddenly rich and full and 
hopeful, — when all within and around smiles. 
As sometimes, after a cold and backward spring, 
one warm week will open all the buds and dress 
the trees with blossoms, and fill the air with fra- 
grance wafted from a thousand flowers, — so 
sometimes in life. The mother clasps her new- 
bom infant to her heart, and her heart grows 
even more full of gratitude to God than of love 
to her child. The darling sister or daughter is 
restored to us from the bed which seemed that of 
death ; or there comes to , us an inward light, — 
we are lifted from misty doubt into clear convic- 
tions, — our path of life is made clear to us. W« 
12* 



138 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYES. 

see what we ought to do, and God nerves us with 
strength to do it. We are equal to the hour 
which demands a sacrifice for principle. Con- 
science is obeyed, and in the calm tranquillity 
which follows we have a foretaste of heaven. 
We see the dawning of truths intended to be 
the " master lights of all our being," — we see 
the beauty of holiness, of purity, of generosity, 
of heroic self-denial, — and humbling ourselves 
as little children before them, we are rewarded 
with a child's joy. 

Such are some of the Deep Moments of Life^ 
out of which if we cry to God, our prayer is 
not one of form, thought, and sentiment merely, 
but of sincerity and truth. Such moments will 
lead us to understand ourselves, will lead us in- 
ward, will deepen our characters, and make our 
common prayers to flow, not from the surface 
but from the Deep Places of the Mind, 

For we are complex beings. There is much 
on the surface of our soul, and many things be- 
low it. But the real prayer is that which comes 
from below, — out of the depths. And while 
the surface of the soul says one thing, its depth 
may say quite another. But the true prayer is 
the deep prayer. 

There is a deep place of love in the heart of 



I>EEP PLACES OF THE MIND. 



139 



man, — there is a deep current of affection which 
is his real life. Wherever that flows, there goes 
he. Wherever that tends, that is his tendency. 
He may have other desires, different from this 
main desire, inconsistent with it, opposed to it, 
perhaps, but these are only transient and in- 
effective wishes; this is the constant and con- 
trolling will. These are the eddies only ; this, 
the current. 

So, too, there is a deep Thought and a super- 
ficial Thought, The deep thought is our real, 
abiding conviction ; the superficial thought is our 
present belief, our transient opinion. In many 
men, what they call their belief is only what they 
think they believe, or think they ought to believe, 
or would like to believe. It does not stand root- 
ed in their experience, fastened to the mind by 
the results of observation, trial, reflection. They 
do not believe, but, as has been well said, they 
only make beheve. Now what sort of a prayer 
is that which comes from such superficial affec- 
tions and opinions } It is no real prayer. With 
his superficial thoughts and wishes, a man prays 
to God for piety, truth, and goodness, for virtue 
and heaven. But meantime, with his inmost will, 
with his deepest conviction, he prays for wealth, 
triumphs, honors, popularity. In these he really 



140 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

believes, for these he really longs. This, then, 
is his real prayer. 

Especially a man prays well who prays out of 
the depths of his actual life. That which we are 
living for, that we can easily pray for. . If we 
are living towards generous and humane ends; 
if we are living to advance a little the upward 
progress of humanity, to remove a little the 
crushing burdens which rest on human hearts; 
if we are living to do good to others and become 
better ourselves, — O, how easily shall we pray 
out of such a life as this ! As naturally as smoke 
ascends to lose itself and become pure in the 
upper regions of the air, will our anxious and 
troubled thoughts rise to God, and find them- 
selves calmed and strengthened in his presence. 
Then we shall not be divided, distracted, uncer- 
tain. We shall pray cur work, and act out our 
prayers. Our prayers will not be formal, forced, 
laborious, but simply the walking before God, 
walking in his spirit, and continuing to receive 
light, love, and strength from him. Thus shall 
we call upon God evermore out of the depths ol 
life and out of the depths of the mind. 



141 



CHAPTER V. 

METHODS. 

§ 29. Private Prayer, 

The largest part of the Christian's prayers will 
always be private. His prayers will be a dia- 
logue with his Heavenly Father. If his religion 
is not so, he may distrust its sincerity. If it be 
not more secret than public, more hidden than 
open, — if his prayers in his closet, in his studies, 
in his walks, are not far more constant and im- 
portant than his prayers in company and in 
church, — he ought to doubt whether he does not 
pray to be seen of men rather than to be seen 
and heard of God. Secret prayer is the fountain 
of all other prayer. Where there is no habit of 
private communion with God, there will be no 
earnestness in public prayer. It will be formal, 
dry, and consisting in endless repetitions of the 
customary phrases. The life of religion in the 
soul consists in habitual communion with God, 
in gratitude, in supplication, in the flight of one 



142 THE CHRISTIAN DUJTEINE OF PRAYER. 

alone to the Only One." This hidden, inner life 
must be maintained in its fulness by constant 
prayer, and thus it will flow out easily into all 
the acts of public devotion and active goodness. 
But when this inner life stagnates, then the out- 
ward acts of devotion become formal and rigid, 
and the man is like a tree, hollow at heart, which 
still may maintain an outward languid show of 
life ; or like an olive-tree dead at the root, 
which still may bear " two or three berries in 
the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in 
the outmost fruitful branches thereof." 

Secret Prayer is the sign and the food of this 
inner life. Its sign, — for this life is love, and 
where love exists, it will express itself. If the 
heart loves God, it will commune with him, it 
will habitually turn to him, as the heliotrope to 
the king of day ; it will lean on him in depend- 
ence, trust, and confidence. Its food, — for such 
communion opens the soul to receive new life 
flowing into it from God, and prayer is the door 
through which the bread and wine of the soul 
are brought in. 

One great advantage of Private or Individual 
Prayer is its freedom of form ; another, its great- 
er range of subjects and occasions. Its form is 
free. It may be mental or oral, it may be only 



PRIVATE PRAYER. 



143 



the unexpressed, sincere desire of the soul, or it 
may be a verbal utterance of wants and needs. 
It may be 

" The burden of a sigh. 

The falling of a tear. 
The upward glancing of an eye, 
When none but God is near," — 

or it may be a written form of self-dedication, 
carefully prepared, and solemnly read once and 
again on the bended knees. It may be at set 
times or at any and every time, — walking to and 
fro, sitting, kneeling, waking at midnight on the 
bed, in the midst of affairs. We carry this closet 
with us everywhere, we can always step in and 
shut the door. No one sees that we have gone 
in, unless our secret communion with our Father 
shows itself by ''a sweet, attractive kind of 
grace," which such intercourse leaves behind it 
on the features. 

Sometimes the deepest prayer of all is not 
only without utterance, not only without words, 
but even goes down below the region of distinct 
thought. It is simply turning to God, and open- 
ing the heart to him, to receive whatever influ- 
ence he may send. It is the state of mind de- 
scribed in all the Quaker books of devotion, and 
expressed in the sweet Methodist hymn, which 



144 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

seems written not for Methodists, but to be sung 
in the Friends' meeting-house : — 

From the world of sin and noise 
And hurry I withdraw ; 
For the small and inner voice 
I wait with silent awe ; 
Silent am I now and still, 
Dare not in thy presence move : 
To my waiting soul reveal 
The secret of thy love." 

And as the form of Secret Prayer is thus free, 
so are its topics extensive. Every thing furnish- 
es occasions and subjects for Private Prayer. 
Things which we could not mention before men 
we can express to God. Thoughts too private 
and intimate, facts too familiar, needs of the day 
and hour, all circumstances which befall us, all 
occasions which we have to encounter, all dan- 
gers and temptations which we may foresee im- 
pending, all opportunities of usefulness which we 
may anticipate, — these all may furnish themes 
and incitements to devotion. The minister going 
to visit a parishioner, the lawyer rising to plead a 
cause, the physician entering the sick-room, the 
mechanic engaging in daily labor, the teacher, 
the shopkeeper, and any one, of whatever occu- 
pation, may all turn in first, to ask a heavenly 



FAMILY AND SOCIAL PRAYER. 145 

aid for the earthly task. We are about to go 
among friends, or among strangers, and our 
words may do them good, may do them harm ; 
shall we not ask that our words may be rightly 
guided ? We are likely to meet temptations, — - 
temptations to vary a little way from strict hon- 
esty, strict truth, strict purity ; we are tempt- 
ed to doubt, to despair, to weariness ; we are 
tempted to take a dark view of life, of human 
nature ; — let us pray ! We are to be placed 
among opponents, enemies ; we shall be tempt- 
ed to return railing for railing, evil for evil ; — let 
us pray ! Thus arise around us the manifold 
occasions for private prayer, — for a word, a 
thought, a longing. Things which could not well 
be said in the presence of others, may be ex- 
pressed in these moments of intimate, interior 
communion. 

§ 30. Family and Social Prayer, 

The first form of open prayer is in the family, 
and as soon as we pass from the sphere of pri- 
vate prayer into this, we lose much of the extent 
of topics and freedom of m,ethod. Family devo- 
tion is both important and difficult, — the difficul- 
ty arising from the fact, that the members of a 
family, having so much else in common, may not 
13 



146 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

necessarily have the same religious life. This 
makes the selection of topics and their treatment 
a matter of no small importance. The topics 
should not be abstract and general, but local and 
particular ; they should grow out of the family 
life, and the relations of parents and children, 
husband and wife, master and servant. As re- 
gards the method of family devotion, it may be 
recommended to have all the members of the 
household take part in it, by reading from the 
Scriptures in turn, by singing hymns in common, 
by responses and alternate oral utterance. For 
this purpose a devotional manual is desirable, 
and where this cannot be used, the reading in 
common of the devotional Psalms. In this way 
the service may not only be made less tedious, 
but a living interest may grow up in it ; and 
years after, children may look back to the influ- 
ences of these morning and evening hours, as 
sources of present strength and peace to their 
hearts. 

The Social Prayer, where two or three unite 
together who are both intimate with each other 
and also disciples of the same Master and be- 
lievers in the same truth, is something interme- 
diate between Private and Public Prayer. It has 
something of the freedom and range of private 



PUBLIC PEAYEK. 



147 



prayer, and the added force of sympathy from 
the union of accordant minds. The small meet- 
ings of Christian friends in the parlor or vestiy 
are often felt to bring the soul nearer to God than 
the worship of the great congregation, in which 
the diversity is too great to allow of a close un- 
ion of thought. It is therefore a very useful 
practice in a church to hold meetings for confer- 
ence and prayer, which will be always attended 
by those who are near together in sympathy. 
Such meetings warm the hearts, and kindle anew 
the fading flame of devotion. There is no rea- 
son why they should not be adopted by all sects ; 
especially if they are adopted and retained, not 
as a decent form, but only while they are living, 
and filled with a living interest. The morning 
prayer-meeting, where Christian friends may 
meet for half an hour before engaging in the du- 
ties of the day, may be, as it has been, a source 
of strength to many for the common labors and 
trials of life. 

§ 31. Public Prayer, 

The subject of Public Worship is too large to 
be treated here with any fulness. I shall merely 
venture a few suggestions in relation to the two 
questions, What are the reasons for maintain- 



148 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRi tER. 

ing Public Worship ? " and, " How is this Pubhc 
Worship to be made most interesting and use- 
ful ? " 

Public worship has this great advantage and 
value, — that it recognizes a public religious sen- 
timent. It is a perpetual denial by the Christian 
Church of its own doctrine of Total Depravity. 
It assumes that the whole community, the con- 
verted and the unconverted, the regenerate and 
the unregenerate, can pray, ougM to pray, wish 
to pray. It so far counteracts the pharisaic feel- 
ing engendered by these distinctions. It is, more- 
over, a religious education for the whole commu- 
nity. Who can tell the amount of influence 
exerted, directly and indirectly, by the fact of 
Sunday worship pervading the whole land, of 
Sunday stillness, cessation from business, of 
church-bells, and the streets filling with the cur- 
rents of piety which set toward the house of 
God ? Who can estimate the impression made 
by the sight of young and old, rich and poor, all 
classes, all orders, equalized before God in a 
common worship, — by the great assembly kneel- 
ing together, responding together, lifting their 
voices with one accord in solemn hymns and 
anthems, moved by a common feeling a ad con- 
viction in listening to the word read or spoken ? 



PUBLIC WORSHIP. 149 

tt is a humanizing influence, purifying and ele- 
vating the community, keeping alive the sense of 
God's presence in the world and nearness to the 
human heart, keeping up a Christian standard of 
duty and responsibility. The power of this in- 
stitution of public worship as a means of Chris- 
tian education can only be realized by those who 
have lived in those outskirts of civilization where 
it has not gone, and have seen the results of its 
first introduction. In the Western States of this 
Union, towns have grown up containing one thou- 
sand or fifteen hundred inhabitants, in which 
there has been no regular public worship. Such 
communities are without order or peace, — they 
are the abodes of violence, intemperance, and all 
forms of brutal vice. At last there comes some 
preacher of the Gospel, — a travelling Methodist, 
perhaps, with all his libraiy contained in his sad- 
dle-bags, who composes his sermons while riding 
beneath the shade of the majestic forests of beech 
and tulip- tree, who finds his congregation of an 
evening in a country schoolhouse, or in the open 
woods, who combines in himself the functions of 
preacher, choir, and sexton, and whose only 
emolument is his supper and lodging. Such a 
man comes into the town, finds out and brings 
together those who are wishing for a more Chris- 
13* 



THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

tian society, establishes some reguljir public wor- 
ship, and thus sets on foot a humanizing influ- 
ence. A new public opinion is created, favorable 
to order, civility, and peace. In the course of a 
few years the aspect of affairs is wholly altered, 
the rudeness and violence are gone, and are re- 
placed by habits of sobriety and decency. Now, 
in this case, the Church, with its institution of 
worship, does not act as a police, restraining the 
outbreak of crime, but as an educational influ- 
ence, correcting the tendencies to crime. In this 
instance we have given the history of what has 
actually occurred again and again, in numberless 
instances throughout our Western States, within 
the last half-century. 

But not only does public worship tend to edu- 
cate the community by awakening and develop- 
ing religious ideas, but it also cultivates humane 
feelings, brings the different classes of society 
near to each other, makes one common platform 
on which all can stand together, and so counter- 
acts continually the tendencies to separate and 
isolated life. People who live all other days 
apart from each other, whose lives are narrowed 
to little rounds of domestic duty, who see only 
small family groups and cliques, come into 
church on the Lord's day, and feel themselves 



PUBLIC WORSHIP. 



151 



foi* an hour at one with all classes of men. This 
hour, though only bringing them into an external 
contact, and no intimate communion, does much 
to emancipate them from a narrow and too indi- 
vidual life. All professions, conditions, charac- 
ters, are side by side engaged in the same serious 
occupation. Political opponents here forget their 
disputes, — rivals in fashion, competitors in busi- 
ness, rich and poor, are here brought into a cer- 
tain sympathy ; — and this is no small gain. 

We say no more here of the advantages of 
Public Worship, since this topic needs no special 
treatment, but pass on to the more important 
question. How shall it be made most interesting 
and useful ? 

The interest of Public Worship depends chiefly 
on this, — that it shall be a reality^ amd not a 
form. If, when we enter the church, we are 
made to feel that we are among a people who 
have met only because it is a custom so to meet ; 
if there is no awe, no earnestness, no devotion, 
no humanity ; if we perceive the airs of fashion, 
display, egotism, self-conceit, in the attitudes, 
looks, and gestures of the assembly, — not only is 
there no good done, but there is a positively evil 
influence. We can bear these manifestations 
elsewhere, but not here ; — here they disgust an 1 



152 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

offend us, and make us doubt the reality of all 
faith and all religious feeling. 

For it is no doubt the fact, that we feel at once 
what is the spirit of a congregation. Seriousness 
manifests itself inevitably without effort, in the at- 
titudes, looks, gestures. Frivolity manifests itself 
as inevitably in careless attitudes, and gestures 
or looks which express indifference to others, 
satisfaction with self, irreverence toward God. 
You cannot enter a congregation without feeling 
at once this spirit, and you unconsciously sym- 
pathize with it. The voluntary on the organ 
tells you that the organist is wishing to show off 
his technical skill and power over the instrument, 
— the choir say in their singing, very audibly, 
" We are paid so much for coming here, and we 
must do this as a matter of business," or, " We 
wish to show you what fine voices we have, and 
what we are able to execute." The minister reads 
or prays, and the sound of his voice says, " I am 
unprepared to pray, — I have nothing of the 
spirit of prayer ; but I am going to assume a 
solemn tone, so as to convince myself and you 
that I am quite in earnest." All this worldliness 
and indifference and languor passes into the con- 
gregation. As they repose in the corners of the 
pews, as they sit and stand and stare in all direc- 



PUBLIC WORSHIP. 



153 



tions, with empty or supercilious gaze, they de- 
clare plainly that they have come to church with 
no religious interest or aim, and that they will 
probably leave it with no religious impression. 
The sermon is, in such cases, the only hope for 
the service. In that the minister is likely to be 
really interested, since he has written it with 
thought and care, and therefore he will more or 
less interest the congregation, and so some good 
will be done. 

When worship is felt to have thus degenerated 
into a form, empty of meaning and life, serious 
persons will be revolted by it, and will be tempted 
to desert public worship altogether. Yet in so 
doinor thev will miss the advantages above men- 
tioned, and will feel that they are becoming lone- 
ly and morbid in their interior life. Therefore 
the question is. How shall new life and earnest- 
ness be breathed uito public worship, so as to 
make it really interesting and useful ? 

There are two ways in which this end may be 
reached. First, the minister and the congrega- 
tion may make direct efforts to obtain a new and 
earnest interest in their worship, and secondly, 
they may indirectly seek it through the medium 
of new forms and improved methods. There 
are these two wants, — the want of New Wine 



154 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

and the want of New Bottles, — of a new spirit, 
and of new forms. A new spirit will give nov- 
elty and interest to old forms, and new forms 
will often awaken a new spirit. 

Let the minister feel an earnest desire to give 
new life to the public wwship, — let him never 
enter the pulpit without mental and moral prepa- 
ration, — let him never engage in public prayer, 
until he has privately asked God's aid that he 
may pray in spirit and in truth, — let him revolve 
the needs of his congregation, feel a living sym- 
pathy with them all, the happy and the sorrowful, 
the believers and the doubters, the old and the 
young. Let him pray out of this depth of con- 
viction, out of this fulness of interest, and the 
congregation will become more or less interested 
too. The spirit of religion is as contagious as 
that of indifference, and will pass into their hearts, 
and a new earnestness will manifest itself out- 
wardly, which will tend to perpetuate, deepen, 
and extend the spirit. Earnest persons in the 
congregation will become more in earnest, there 
will be a real revival of the spirit of piety and 
faith, and, without changing a single method, 
every part of the service will be lifted out of 
deadness into life. 

Or, on the other hand, something may be don« 



CHANGE OF FORMS. 



155 



by introducing new forms. Any kind of a 
change, which breaks up old habits, which takes 
the congregation out of the stereotyped ways, 
may often tend to give new earnestness to the' 
services. Innovations in either direction, whether 
toward more of Form, or more of Freedom, 
have produced a deeper life. The churches 
which have copied Roman Catholic customs, put- 
ting candles on the altar, and the like, have 
usually with their unimportant novelties gained 
an important increase of real religious interest. 
So, too, churches which have thrown away forms 
and simplified worship have been benefited. Not 
that the change in itself, and absolutely, was ne- 
cessarily for the better, but by the change they 
were taken out of the grooves of form, and 
thrown upon the help of the spirit. 

What these changes of method and form shall 
be, depends much on the character and circum- 
stances of the society. They should not be in- 
troduced by a mere majority vote, against the 
wishes of a respectable minority, since the ad- 
vantage gained would be more than counter- 
balanced by the feeling of dissatisfaction intro- 
duced into the congregation. Such changes may 
be made the subjects of interesting and useful 
discussion in the meetings of the society, and 



156 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

may be gradually introduced, according to their 
wishes. 

We do not mean to say that one mode of wor- 
ship has no absolute advantage over any other. 
We find something good in all, but some no doubt 
are really better and others worse. There are 
vicious extremes of too much of Form, running 
into formalism, — of too little, passing into dis- 
order. We can conceive of a mode of worship 
which should combine the advantages of all 
others, — which should be neither bald in its sim- 
plicity, nor loaded with ornament and variety, — 
in which the congregation should take part orally 
as well as mentally, by congregational singing 
and responses, — which should be in part Liturgic 
and in part Extemporaneous, — in which there 
should be seasons of silence for mental prayer 
and contemplation, — and in which choral and 
instrumental music should be alternated with the 
hymns of the whole congregation. Such a wor- 
ship might be aided by the construction of the 
building and its ornaments. The house should 
not be gloomy, but pervaded by a cheerful light, 
coming mostly from above. The seats should be 
arranged in a circular form, so as to bring the 
people into each other's view as well as into that 
of the minister, and so to make a visible com- 



CHURCH ARCHITECTURE. 157 

munion. Paintings might be on the walls, repre- 
senting the Parables of Christ, scenes in his life, 
and important events in Church history. Thus 
a truly catholic church architecture might be 
produced, equally distant from the baldness of 
Puritanism, and the gloom and closeness of the 
Roman churches. For we cannot believe that 
the mediaeval architecture, beautiful as it was in 
its time, was intended for all time. The idea of 
humanity is lost sight of, the congregation are 
like ants crawling on the floor ; only the altar 
and its mass, the priesthood and their ceremonies, 
are of consequence. The whole of Catholic wor-* 
ship consists in looking at the celebration of the 
Mass, — the whole of Puritan worship consists 
in listening to the prayers, hymns, and sermon. 
This looking and listening needs to be superseded 
by a higher worship, in which the church of 
brethren and sisters shall worship in communion 
with each other, and not vicariously by priest or 
preacher. Then the house of worship would not 
be only a floor beneath a lofty roof, where a con- 
gregation stands to see a mass, — nor pews in which 
they sit to hear a sermon. But the house of wor- 
ship would be a home, and the worshippers therein 
a family, — and to make of the church a home is 
the surest way of making the home a church. 

14 



158 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAIER 

§ 32. Liturgic or Extemporaneous, 

From what we have said it will be seen that 
we vote neither with the friends of a liturgy nor 
with their opponents in the much debated ques- 
tion concerning forms of prayer. We believe 
the best form of worship to be that which com- 
bines the two methods. It is well for the con- 
gregation to take part in the worship omlly as 
well as mentally, for thus they magnetize each 
other by the sound of their voices, and tlie"utter- 
ance reacts on themselves. But a liturgy which 
is fixed and unvarying, and which leaves no place 
for prayer adapted to varying circumstances and 
needs, becomes a routine and a formality to many 
minds. But to the combination suggested of 
the two methods, we can see no possible objec- 
tion, and wherever it has been tried, it has been 
successful. 

§ 33. Stated Times and Spontaneous, 

The element of prayer is freedom ; and ac- 
cordingly it should be encouraged to utter itself 
in spontaneous expressions of desire gratitude, 
dependence, contrition, joy. The child should 
have that confidence in his Father, that he can 
naturally and easily say to Him whatever he 



FREEDOM AND REaULARITY. 



159 



wishes, without formal preparation. Wherever 
there is a true union between the soul and God, 
prayer will flow out freely and easily as the prat- 
tle of an infant at its mother's knee. It will not 
be restrained by fear, for there is no fear in love, 
nor constrained by conscience, for love is the 
fulfilment of all law, nor stiffened by a for- 
mal propriety, which has no place in the inter- 
course of confiding friendship. The best, high- 
est prayers are always most spontaneous, and 
wherever the spirit of prayer is, the largest part 
of devotion must come rather from an impulse 
than a purpose. The child does not say, " Go 
to, I will make a speech to my father," — Come 
now, it is time to tell my mother that I love her, 
and to ask her to take care of me to-day." There 
must be a fountain of confiding love in the heart, 
which easily flows out in prayer, or the vitality 
of devotion is wanting. The life of prayer, 
therefore, is spontaneity, and its essential el-ement 
perfect freedom. 

But though rules are not appropriate as re- 
straint, they may be useful as aids. Prudent ar- 
rangements may come in as auxiliary to impulse. 
To pray at stated times, if done from constraint 
and as a matter of formal duty or propriety, is 
not well ; but if done from a wise desire to regu- 



160 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

late life to the best advantage, may be very useful. 
We merely mean to oppose the opus operatum 
view of prayer. We oppose the notion, that, when 
a person has said his prayers at the proper times, 
once, twice, or thrice per day, he has done his 
duty. This opus operatum view pervades all 
prayer, Protestant and Roman Catholic, but is 
most plainly taught in the latter form of Christian 
belief. It is for instance, a rule of the Roman 
Church that the priest shall read his Breviary or 
Prayer-book one hour and a half every day. 
Accordingly, you find the priests ''eading their 
books in the railroad-cars, in the salles d'^attente^ 
or wherever they may happen to find a spare 
minute, looking about meanwhile in a way which 
shows how much this practice has become a mere 
lip-service. And how, with such a rule, can it 
be any thing else ? But that one should arrange 
life a little, and appoint himself a time for prayer 
is natural and useful, — just as two friends, who 
love each other's society, may appoint certain 
hours for meeting, and arrange their other duties 
so as to secure this opportunity. But if these 
two friends should adopt as an inflexible rule that 
they should talk together one hour and a half 
every day, the life of their intercourse would 
soon be gone. 



TIMES OF PRAYER. 



161 



It is therefore proper and useful to fix certain 
hours for prayer, and those who do not do 
this will not be likely to find time for prayer. 
Regularity is not necessarily formality. What 
these times shall be, depends on the circum- 
stances of the individual. The morning and 
evening have always been regarded as the most 
suitable seasons, and it is quite an advantage if 
one can so arrange his life as to have some time 
at the beginning of the day to consider what lies 
before him of duty, temptation, social intercourse, 
and responsibility, and seek for God's guidance 
and help to meet the occasions of the day in a 
true spirit. And so, at the close of the day, he 
does well who never goes to sleep without first 
looking to God in thankfulness, penitence, and 
reliance, — who commits himself, his family, his 
friends, to that Great Guardian, before passing 
into the region of unconscious repose. And here 
we may be permitted to refresh ourselves and 
our readers with the familiar lines of Henry 
Ware. 

" To prayer, to prayer ! for the morning breaks, 
And earth in her Maker's smile awakes ; 
His light is on all below and above, 
The light of gladness, and life, and love. 
O, then, on the breath of this early air. 
Send upward the incehse of grateful prayer! 
14* 



162 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PEAYEK. 

" To prayer ! for the glorious sun is gone, 
And the gathering darkness of night comes on : 
Like a curtain from God's kind hand it flows, 
To shade the couch where his children repose. 
Then kneel, while the watching stars are bright, 
And give your last thoughts to the Guardian of night 

" Never forget, my boy, to say your prayers 
every day, morning and night," — these words, 
spoken to a young man about to leave his father's 
roof for the first time, we have known to prove 
his preservation amid the temptations of a subse- 
quent career. Let then spontaneity be joined 
with regularity, — the one making prayer vital, 
the other making it habitual, — the one being its 
life, the other its form, — the one its soul, and 
the other its body. Let the family assemble reg- 
ularly for morning or evening prayer, let a mo- 
ment of silence or a word of thanksgiving precede 
the united meal. But let not spontaneous prayer 
be excluded nor thought indecorous in the house- 
hold life. When the thoughts have gone into a 
deeper channel than usual, when the conversa- 
tion has been on serious duty, danger, or work, — 
when the heart has expressed its sense of need, 
the mind its want of guidance, — then let it be 
considered natural and fit for friends to pray for 
each other, for a moment to be given to devotion. 
Would not such a conversation have a fitting end 



WITHOUT CEASING. 



163 



m a prayer, and would it not be very proper for 
one asked for counsel, or trusted with confidence, 
to say, at the close of the dialogue, " Shall I not 
pray with you, now, my friend ? " 

§ 34. Without Ceasing. (See § 13.) 

Unceasing prayer, therefore, does not exclude 
stated prayer, but rather includes it. Out of its 
root, in a heart loving to dwell near to God, and 
a life ordered and regulated so as to continue near 
to him, prayer ascends and becomes the spirit 
which animates all thought, all emotion, all activ- 
ity. Head, heart, and hand are guided by a 
sense of a divine presence and love, in the midst 
of all tasks and joys. 

" The morning comes, with blushes overspread, 
And I, new- wakened, find a mom within ; 
And in its modest dawn around me shed, 
Thou hear'st the prayer and the ascending hymn.'' 

Prayer " without ceasing " does not, of course, 
mean an unceasing act of conscious address to 
God, but it means a spirit turned habitually 
toward God, and not from him. Such a spirit 
will make it natural and easy to speak to God 
whenever occasion arises, — natural also not to 
speak when there is no occasion. It makes of his 
service perfect freedom. It makes us feel sur- 



164 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 



rounded and upheld by everlasting arms. It is 
not only the result and crown of all other prayer, 
but its root and source. For it really would seem 
that we cannot pray at all, unless w^e pray with- 
out ceasing. The mind must be either alienated 
from God or at peace with him, — either turned 
from him or turned toward him. But a mind 
alienated from God cannot pray, does not feel 
able to pray, is conscious that, instead of a Father 
to speak to, there is only a void inane. On the 
other hand, a mind at one with God, and at peace 
with him, is always in the sunshine of his pres- 
ence, and a deep sense of contact and commun- 
ion with God peiTades all of life, and is the root 
of all actual prayer. The current of our being 
sets that way, and carries all our thoughts easily 
upward into the Divine presence. The inmost 
language of the heart is, — 

*' Nearer, my God, to Thee, — nearer to Thee, — 
Even though it be a cross which raiseth me." 

And this unceasing prayer of the heart is unceas- 
ingly answered in the sense of progress, in the 
conviction that we 

" nightly pitch our moving tent 
A day's march nearer home." 

Therefore, when the Apostle says, " Pray with 



TOPICS OF PEAYER. 



165 



out ceasing, and in every thing give thanks,*' 
he is not setting forth some ultimate and almost 
impossible attainment of piety, v^hich only is ac- 
complished by here and there a saint, half-liber- 
ated from earth and sense. He is, as almost 
always, speaking to us all. Those who pray at 
all, to any purpose, pray without ceasing. All 
real Christians pray without ceasing. For our 
uttered and stated prayers are not isolated efforts 
of piety ; not occasional returns, twice or thrice 
a day, out of worldliness into religion, out of 
atheism into devotion. But much rather are they 
the moments when the steady current of our in- 
ward and hidden life, flowing ever toward Truth 
and Goodness, is tossed up into waves and jets 
of conscious God-seeking. Prayer without ceas- 
ing is the soul's sincere desire." Conscious 
and deliberate prayer is that sincere desire com-' 
ing up into the intellect and taking shape there. 
It is unceasing prayer alone which makes occa- 
sional prayer easy and effectual. 

§35. For What? Topics of Prayer. (See § 23.) 

Mr. E,. W. Emerson in his Essay on Self-Reli- 
ance (Essays, First Series, p. 67) says : — 

" That which we call a holy office is not so 
much as brave or manly Prayer looks abroad, 



166 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

and asks for some foreign addition to come 
through some foreign virtue, and loses itself in 
endless mazes of natural and supernatural, and 
mediatorial and miraculous. Prayer that craves 
a particular commodity — any thing less than all 
good — is vicious. Prayer is the contemplation 
of the facts of life from the highest point of view. 
It is the soliloquy of a beholding and jubilant soul. 
It is the spirit of God pronouncing his works 
good. But prayer as a means to obtain a private 
end is meanness and theft. As soon as the man 
is at one with God, he will not beg. He will 
then see prayer in all action. The prayer of the 
farmer kneeling in his field to weed it, the prayer 
of the rower kneeling with the stroke of his oar, 
are true prayers heard through all nature, though 
for cheap ends." 

Mr. Emerson here speaks in his Stoical mood. 
This view, so concisely expressed in the above 
passage, is the one we have been opposing 
through our whole Essay. Prayer does " look 
abroad and asks for some foreign addition," — 
for the man who prays has learned that his 
strength lies in passing out of his own small life, 
and opening himself to influences wholly above 
and beyond him. He has ceased to be self-sus- 
tained, and so is all-sustained. Prayer is not 



STOICAL OBJECTIONS. 



167 



contemplation," but, as Mr. Emerson, turning 
round at the end of the paragraph, himself says, 
it is action.. It is not "soliloquy," but dia- 
logue. To say, with Mr. Emerson at one mo- 
ment, that prayer is contemplation, and then to 
call it action, — to say it is the soliloquy of the 
soul, and then to call it the utterance of the Spirit 
of God, — is to confound things which ought to be 
distinguished, — it is to " huddle and lump " what 
should be sundered and divisible." Meditation 
is one thing, action is another. If we propose to 
reflect and meditate, let us say so, — let us not 
call it prayer. 

Mr. Emerson objects to prayer which craves 
" a particular commodity," and then says that the 
farmer kneeling to weed his field makes a true 
prayer. But that is for a particular commodity, 
— for a cheap end. Is it prayer then, or is it 
not } 

Undoubtedly Mr. Emerson means that we ought 
to work for these " commodities," and not to pray 
for them. But why then confound the two ? 
Why call work by another name, not its own. 
Mr. Emerson defines prayer to be a soliloquy, a 
contemplation. Is there no distinction, then, be- 
tween contemplation and action } 

And can any one tell why it is brave and man- 



168 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

ly to work for a particular commodity, and vicious 
to pray for it. When my child is sick, I apply 
baths and use means to restore his health, — and 
I also ask God to bless those means. Why is the 
lirst " brave," and the second " meanness and 
theft " ? 

Was it meanness and theft in those who asked 
jesus to come and heal their children, and did he 
^jncourage their meanness in going to them and 
helping them ? If we may ask man's help in our 
difficulties, why may we not ask God's help, with- 
out this reproach ? Is there a logician who can 
tell us that 

He who takes a Stoical view of God, nature, 
a.nd man, will veiy naturally think it vicious to 
pray for any particular commodity. This view 
f/huts God out of nature, and shuts man up in 
himself. It pushes independence and individual- 
ity in every thing to unlimited results. It sees 
only law, not love, in the relation of God to na- 
ture, and erects an order in the universe, salu- 
tary for classes, but cold to the individual. Prov- 
idence is a benevolent Fate, and God's relation 
to the world is only that of Law-sustainer. 

But with the view of God and of nature which 
we have endeavored to enforce as the Christian 
aew, all objections to particular prayers fall 



WHAT WE MAY PRAY FOR. 



169 



away. We may ask for spiritual and for tem- 
poral blessings, — for Pardon, Peace . Truth, 
Strength, Joy, Love, — for opportunities of use- 
fulness, — for wisdom to meet difficulties and con- 
quer temptations. We may ask for ourselves 
and others, health, and all outward support, op- 
portunity, and means. So too may we ask suc- 
cess in all our daily enterprises and labors. 

We may ask for others, as for ourselves. 
There are those whom we can help in no other 
way, whom we can meet in no other way, whom 
we can meet and help in prayer. The mother's 
prayer for her absent child reaches far over the 
ocean, and on distant seas puts peace into his heart, 
and wisdom for imminent exigencv into his mind. 

We may pray for the living, and why not also 
for the dead ? I believe that only Protestant hos- 
tility to the doctrine of Purgatory has caused the 
discontinuance of prayers for the dead. The 
doctrinal objection that the condition of the dead 
is finally determined, and cannot be altered by 
our prayers, has no foundation either in Scripture 
or Reason. That it has none appears from the 
proofs adduced in support of it, consisting usually 
of a text in Ecclesiastes,' In the place where 
the tree falleth, there it shall lie," and two lines 
of Dr. Watts, — 

1.5 



170 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

" There are no acts of pardon passed 
In the cold grave to which we haste." 

But there is absolutely nothing in the New 
Testament forbidding such prayers, and since 
they are prompted by natural feeling, this is 
equivalent to their permission, — on the principle, 
" If it were not so, I would have told you." Rea- 
son and the nature of things prompt us to believe 
that those who leave this world imperfect in 
character, enter the next state beyond this imper- 
fect. They do not become so different from us, 
but that they may profit by our prayers still. 

There is nothing, therefore, which interests us 
in this world, but may come specially before God 
in prayer. Things which man despises has God 
chosen. To him nothing is common or unclean, 
nothing insignificant which moves the hearts of 
his children. If trifles affect us, then let trifles 
be spoken of in our prayer, and that which is 
trifling in the topic will be lost in the interest of 
communion with our Heavenly Father. 

§ 36. To whom ? Object of Prayer. 

An important question, not to be wholly passed 
over, concerns the Object of Prayer. To whom 
shall we pray ? 

1. The Unitarian answers. To the Father 
only, 



OBJECT OF PRAYER. 



171 



2. The Trinitarian says, To the Father, the 
Son, the Holy Spirit, and the Trinity. 

3. The Roman Catholic adds, Also the Virgin 
Mary and the Saints, — making a distinction, how- 
ever, between Latvia and Bulia^ i. e. the sort of 
worship addressed to God and that to the saints. 

The Unitarian in support of his position quotes 
the most positive texts of Scripture ; for ex- 
ample, — 

John iv. 23. " The hour cometh and now is 
when the true worshippers shall worship the 
Father in spirit and in truth," &c. 

John xvi. 23. " In that day " (namely, after 
Christ's resurrection) " ye shall ask me nothing. 
Verily, verily, I say unto you. Whatsoever ye 
shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it 
you." 

LuKe xi. 2. "When ye pray, say. Our Father.'^'' 
The Unitarian also argues, that such a complex 
object of worship as is presented by the Trinity 
is adapted to confuse the mind, and that such a 
worship is in many respects exposed to the evils 
of polytheism. 

But, on the other hand, the Trinitarian contends 
that God, out of Christ, is' an abstraction, — in- 
capable of meeting the wants of the heart. He 
says that God assumes a personal character as 



172 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAlYER. 

manifest in the flesh, and that we can speak to 
Him as to one near us, and having sympathy 
with us. The Trinitarian also endeavors to find 
support in the New Testament, contending that 
" to call on the Lord " is equivalent to prayer to 
Jesus. 

The Roman Catholic defends the invocation of 
the saints by means of the distinction before re- 
ferred to. He says that he does not worship the 
saints as he worships God, but differently. He 
addresses them as living beings, in a higher 
world, full of sympathy for those below, and asks 
their prayers and intercessions with God. If to 
ask a good man, who is yet in this world, to pray 
for you, involves nothing objectionable, and is 
not worship, why is it objectionable to ask him 
to pray for you, after he has gone into the other 
world If we may pray for the dead, why may 
not the dead pray for us } If it be said that to 
ask any thing of an invisible being is to wor- 
ship him, it may be replied that the question of 
worship cannot depend on the fact of visibility ; 
otherwise it would be considered objectionable to 
ask any favor of a friend in the night-time, 
and a blind man ought to ask no favors at all. 
Or it may be said, that to ask of those in the other 
world implies their presence with worshippers in 



PRESENCE OF SPIRITS. 



173 



different lands, therefore their omnipresence, and 
therefore is giving to them a divine and incom- 
municable attribute of the Deity. But to this 
also the reply is easy. To be present in ten dif- 
ferent places, or in a thousand different places, is 
not omnipresence. A man speaking in public is 
present by his thought to a thousand auditors at 
once, through the medium of sight and sound. 
A man who writes a book, or an article in the 
newspaper, is present by his thought to ten thou- 
sand readers in different places, through the me- 
dium of his book. The operator with an elec- 
tric telegraph is present, through the medium of 
his wire, to all the offices on the route at the 
same moment. Therefore it may easily be that 
spirits out of the body may be present by their 
thought and perception, and by some medium of 
which we are now ignorant, to a great many per- 
sons and places at once. There is no impossibil- 
ity, nor even any improbability, of this being the 
case. And, surely, if the 

" Saints on earth, and all the dead, 
But one communion make," 

this view will make the communion a reality, and 
will bring the other world much nearer to this one. 
A practical objection, however, to this Roman 
15* 



17i THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

Catholic doctrine remains, and is not so easily 
disposed of. Granting the distinction between 
Latria and Dulia^ between the worship paid to 
God and to the saints, will that distinction be 
regarded ? Will it not be lost sight of in prac- 
tice, and will not the saints, as being nearer to us, 
gradually attract to themselves all the worship, 
so that none remains to be paid to the Father ? 
Facts authorize and confirm this fear. There is 
no doubt that, in Italy, nine tenths at least of all 
prayer is addressed to the Virgin, and goes no 
farther. Every city has its patron saint, who is 
the object of especial worship, and whose altar is 
thronged with kneeling devotees. Such is the 
case with Saint Januarius at Naples, Saint Charles 
Borromeo at Milan, and Saint Petronio at Bologna. 
A little incident occurred to us in the neighbor- 
hood of the latter city, which tends to show that 
the distinction of worship is often lost sight of. 
A party of travellers were descending the long 
portico leading to the Church of the Madonna of 
St. Luke, on the top of the Monte della Guardia, 
near Bologna, and met some children going up. 
We stopped to talk with them, and found they 
were going up to say their prayers to the saints 
and to the Madonna. We asked them in the 
course of the conversation which they loved best, 



PRATER TO THE FATHER. 



175 



God or the saints. A bright boy about thirteen 
years old replied, — >" We love them in the same 
way," — nella stessa maniera. If they loved 
them in the same way, they would be likely to 
worship them in the same way too. This shows 
that such invocation of saints is to be guarded 
with great care, and is attended with special dan- 
gers. 

The result of this examination would therefore 
brino^ us to somethincr like the foUowino; results. 

O D O 

1. All prayer should be addressed to the Father, 
but to the Father as revealed and manifested in 
the Son. We pray not to an abstract or philo- 
sophic God, but to Him who has shown himself to 
us in the life and teachings of Jesus, as a person- 
al friend. We worship and adore Him who has 
shown himself in Christ so loving the world and 
so loving sinners as to wish to pardon all, and 
save every human being from the power and the 
guilt of sin. God, thus seen in Christ, is the 
only object of religious supplication and divine 
worship. He is the only ultimate source of all 
spiritual and temporal good. 

2. Since we believe that Christ is with us 
always (Matt, xxviii. 20), that he has not left nor 
deserted the world, but is still near to it as a Sav- 
iour and Friend, we may speak to him as though 



176 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

he were present, asking his sympathy, uttering 
our love, thanking him for his friendship. This 
has, in fact, been usual with Unitarians in their 
hymns, for all our hymn-books contain addresses 
to Jesus; as, for example, — 

" Lord Jesus, come ! for here 
Our paths through wilds are laid," &c. 

" Jesus, my living Head, 
I bless thy faithful care," &c. 

" Jesus, Prince of Peace, be near us, 
Pix in all our hearts thy home." 

3. The distinction between prayer to God and 
addresses to Christ consists in this, that we re- 
gard all that Christ has done or does for us as 
done by mediation, by intercession, by derived 
power. He is a dependent being, like ourselves, 
though so much higher and more exalted. 
Therefore, all that he has done for us we refer 
back to his Father and our Father, to his God 
and our God, as its ultimate source. And what- 
ever we ask of him is in the way of mediation 
and intercession only. 

4. But as there is danger of this distinction 
being forgotten in practice, it is best that all 
prayer, public or private, should be addressed to 
the Father through the Son, and that the Son him- 



COMMUNION WITH JESXTS. 



177 



self be not addressed in supplication. There will 
still remain room for private and personal com- 
munion with Jesus, in the way of conversation 
rather than worship, — by hymns, by spontaneous 
expressions of love and trust and earnest interest, 
such as come naturally to the lips when we feel 
that an object of sincere attachment is near us, 
though unseen. 

5. And the same is true as regards other de- 
parted spirits, whether those who are called 
saints, or any others. They are ministering 
spirits, they are objects of interest and affection. 
We are not sure that they are near us, or that 
they can hear us ; but, on the other hand, we are 
not sure of the contrary. So that if our heart 
prompts it, we may address them, we may open 
our soul to them, but not pray to them. Let 
prayer remain for God, whom we do know to 
be always near, and always conscious of ou/ 
thoughts. 



CHAPTER VI. 



MOTIVES AND EESULTS. 

§ 37. Necessity and Advantage. 

To live without prayer is to live without com- 
munion with God. But this is to live away from 
God, and to separate ourselves from him as far 
as is possible for the human being to escape from 
his Maker. We cannot go away from the power 
of God, for that is around us at all times, and 
everywhere. We are leaning on his arm, up- 
held by his hand, consciously or unconsciously, 
at every moment. We cannot go away from the 
love of God. For that pursues, and surrounds, 
and blesses us still, however little we may de- 
serve it. But we may go away from God by 
turning away from him, by forgetting him and 
neglecting him. We have the power of thus 
turning away, of closing our eyes inwardly, and 
opening them only outwardly ; closing them to- 
ward heaven, and opening them toward earth* 



ALIENATION FROM GOD. 



179 



We have this terrible freedom of escaping, if we 
choose, from the restraining sense of the Divine 
Presence, and so doing our own will, without the 
immediate rebuke of conscience. Most men are 
thus turned away, and it is this which makes it 
hard to pray and easy to sin. No man can pray 
earnestly and sin readily at the same time. We 
must either leave off sinning, or leave off praying. 
Consequently most men, whether they are great 
sinners or outwardly decent and moral, are really 
alienated from God. The proof of it is easy. It 
is, that, though He is always near to them, they 
are not aware of it, and the thought and sense of 
his nearness never restrains them from commit- 
ting evil. The presence of a good man will re- 
strain the tongue of the ribald and the profane, — 
the presence of the most insignificant human be- 
ing influences them more or less, — but the pres- 
ence of the Deity does not influence them at all. 
Therefore it is evident that they do not feel His 
presence, — that they are alienated from Him. 
Now, when we have repented of our sins, and 
determined to lead a religious life, and have be- 
gun to do so, we shall nevertheless find that this 
alienation from God has not become impossible. 
On the other hand, we shall find, in all probabili- 
ty^ that, by allowing ourselves to commit appar- 



180 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

ently slight transgressions, we have again lost 
the quick sense of the surrounding God, and 
wandered again from our Father's house. In 
this case prayer becomes a matter of necessity, 
and prayer not as a gush of feeling, not as an 
indulgence of sentiment, but prayer as an act, an 
earnest act of turning to God, and holding the 
soul open to his influences, and to be fed and 
renewed by his inflowing life. The Christian 
comes to learn, by frequent experience, that he 
cannot live without prayer. And so he prays 
daily and hourly, not as a duty, but as a neces- 
sity, — prays when it is necessary, be it seldom 
or often, — prays ^i/Z the need is supplied, till 
the hunger has ceased, till the empty soul is filled, 
till his weakness has been made strength, till his 
weariness has changed to inward rest. And then, 
having prayed from necessity, he prays again spon- 
taneously, the prayer of thanksgiving and grati- 
tude, the acknowledgment of this new life. And if 
again he finds himself astray, he prays by con- 
fessing his sin, by owning his estrangement, by 
beseeching pardon and reconciliation and peace. 
And when in union with God, and not praying 
from necessity, or for himself, he prays for oth- 
ers ; he prays for the kingdom of God, for the 
coming of peace, truth, and love to the world ; 



MOTIVES. 



181 



he prays for union in the Church, for practical 
Christianity among Christians, for the ignorant, 
the poor, the afflicted, for the slave and the op- 
pressed, for the vicious and abandoned, for the 
infidel and the heathen. Then also he finds 
pleasure in remembering before God individuals. 
He intercedes for his friends, according to what 
he supposes their needs, temptations, and trials 
may be. He enjoys bringing them, one by one, 
before the mercy-seat, and doing for them in 
prayer what he can do for them in no other way. 
Thus we pray, from such motives as these. Out 
of necessity^ because we are away from God, 
and are therefore weak, and must pray to gain 
strength ; because we are wretched, and must 
pray in order to gain comfort. Out of grati» 
tude^ because our heart is happy, our cup full, 
our life advancing ; and joy overflows into prayer. 
Out of Zore, because we wish to help our brother, 
our sister, and we cannot help them in any other 
way than this. Out of interest in Christ's cause, 
out of wish to make his kingdom, out of faith in 
the good time near at hand. Out of penitence^ 
because we cannot find peace till we go to our 
Father and say, " God be merciful to me a 
sinner ! " 

16 



182 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER, 

§ 38. Prayer a Duty or a Privilege. 

Next let us look more closely at the relation 
of prayer to our other duties. 

In using the phrase " other duties," I have 
implied that prayer is a duty ; and in one sense 
it may be so considered. It is a duty to pray, 
just as it is a duty to live on terms of affectionate 
intimacy and intercourse with our father and our 
mother, our wife and children. But it is not a 
duty in the sense in which it is our duty to tell 
the truth or to pay our debts. In other words, it 
does not belong to that class of duties in which 
the outward act is the principal thing. A man 
ought to tell the truth, he ought to pay his debts, 
no matter in what frame of mind he does it. But 
what would you think of a son or daughter who 
should make it a rule to go to their father so 
many times a day, and express their gratitude to 
him in a formal manner for his love and paternal 
care exercised over them } The moment that the 
expression of affection was made a duty, in this 
sense of the word, the moment it became a for- 
mality, a task- work, a piece of routine, you would 
expect it to become a cold and difficult matter 
enough, and you would not wonder to hear the 
child complaining that his filial affections were 



TWO REGIONS OF LIFE. 



183 



growing very cold, under such a system. But in 
the same way we often freeze our religious af- 
fections, by making it a mere matter of duty to 
pray so much and so often every day, instead of 
regarding prayer in its truer light as the highest 
joy, the freest and happiest privilege allotted to us 
here below. 

The whole life of a religious man falls into two 
grand divisions, and all his actions belong to the 
one or the other. The one is the region of piety ^ 
the other the region of morality. Piety and 
morality, united, make up religion^ or the whole 
life of a Christian. The region of morality is 
under the Law ; it is a stern and rugged clime, 
a land of restraint, of effort, of struggle, of battle. 
The performance of duty, the doing the work of 
the Lord, this is the problem of morality. Here 
the Christian must be ready to labor, to endure 
constraint, to undergo hardship, to fight the good 
fight of faith, to do with his might whatever his 
hand finds to do, knowing that there is neither 
work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, 
in the grave, whither he is hastening. 

But when our overtasked strength faints amid 
the toils of life, when we. are weary and heavy 
laden, then we turn into that other land, — the 
land of the Gospel, of pious trust and joy, — 



184 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRATER. 

where the heart can repose in the bosom of God, 
and abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 
This should not be a land of constraint, but of 
freedom. Joy and love, faith and hope, a happy 
sense of a divine guardianship, — these are the 
angel spirits which hover over that divine region. 
There is no fear in love, for perfect love casteth 
out fear. Where the spirit of the Lord is, there 
is liberty. 

But now it is a sad mistake when that part of 
our life which should be free and light as air is 
bound with chains, — when that which should be 
a joy becomes a task, — when the staff which 
should sustain us is added to the burden which 
oppresses us, — when the cordial of refreshment is 
changed into the bitter cup of trial. Yet this is 
done w^hen we make moral duties out of Christian 
privileges. Prayer, if any thing, should be the 
most solemnly joyful act of our lives. How often 
it is degraded into a task ! The Sabbath, if any 
thing, should be a day of rest and refreshment 
for the weary body and the w^eary soul. How 
often it is transformed into the heaviest burden 
we have to carry ! The Church, the assembling 
together of Christian friends, should be the hap- 
piest meeting in the world ; tliere should be 
seriousness without gloom, earnestness without 



PIETY AND MORALITY. 



185 



anxiety, cheerfulness without excess, freedom yet 
order, a pervading sympathy of heart, felt rather 
than spoken. Instead of this, what do we often 
have ? Frozen forms, of which time has eaten 
away the once living core ; a heavy, languid, in- 
dolent multitude going through a dreary routine 
from a sense of dutv. — listenino; to scholastic 
harangues, or rhetorical orations, or theological 
quibbles. 

What is the cause of all this ? It comes from 
disregarding the limits of things, confounding 
together the different parts of life, not distin- 
guishing what ought to be distinguished, and so 
losing piety in morality. 

Piety and morality ought not to be, and cannot 
be, separated in any man's life ; but they can be 
distinguished, though not separated. Piety can- 
not exist without morality, nor morality without 
piety, yet they are not the same thing. So the 
stalk cannot exist without the root, nor the root 
without the stalk ; yet they are not the same thing, 
nor should their spheres be confounded. It 
would not do to put the stalk into the ground and 
the root in the air. Nor is it right or wise to 
subject prayer, which is a- part of piety, to those 
constraints which properly belong to morality. 

There is one class of Christians who make 
16* 



186 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

piety the whole of religion ; there is another class 
who make morality the whole of religion. I be- 
lieve that there is a third and increasing class, 
who have learned that religion is made up of 
loth^ — that these are the two faces, the opposite 
poles, of the religious life, — and who know how 
to distinguish them without dividing them. 

In describing the true way to cultivate the 
spirit of prayer, we must say that to pray merely 
as a duty rather hinders than helps it. But let 
the mind and heart be pervaded with the convic- 
tion of those great truths which constitute the 
Gospel, — the character of God as our spiritual 
Friend and Father ; the mission of Christ as the 
Saviour of the soul from sin and ruin ; the promise 
of the Holy Spirit to all believers who seek for it ; 
the love, the trust, the encouragement, the prom- 
ises of the Gospel, the everlasting presence of 
a spiritual Friend ; God nigh at hand and in our 
heart, as the Comforter, the Holy Spirit. Sink- 
ing deep into the centre of these truths, and so 
being filled with a spirit of trust, never to be 
shaken, in God as our tenderest friend, we shall 
always be ready to come boldly to the throne of 
grace to find help in time of need. We shall 
have that sense of a Divine Presence which shall 
cause us to pray without ceasing, — though our 



TIME AND METHOD. 



187 



prayers will be often only a throb of gratitude, or 
a sudden aspiration of love, or the soul falling 
down in humility, and bowing itself before God. 
And then, too, we shall find a place and a use 
for times of prayer, and for a certain degree of 
method and system in prayer. For we have al- 
ready seen and said that spiritual and true prayer 
need not be immethodical and without system. 
On the contrary, every one can see that some 
method is right here, and necessary, as in other 
things. It does not prove my friendship insin- 
cere, that I say to my friend when we part, 
"Let us write to each other at least twice a 
week," or, " Let us look every evening, at a cer- 
tain hour, at a particular star, and think of one 
another." If the letter- writing and star-looking 
are done merely as a duty, it will be bad, and if 
the method of prayer be retained when its life is 
gone, this is also bad. But every pious heart 
must feel that God, in the veiy arrangements of 
nature, and in the ordinances of the heavens, 
says to us, " In the morning think of me, in that 
calm hour which I send you before the toil and 
din of life commences ; and in the evening think 
of me ; after it is over, when the holy stars pour 
quiet upon the earth, then remember me." And 
so, too, on the Sabbath day, we shall rejoice in 



188 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

the opportunity for a closer walk with God. 
Times and forms have their place, and their use. 
But do not let the soul wear them, as David wore 
the cumbrous armor of Saul, which he had not 
proved, and which was only an encumbrance. 

The whole of the teaching and example of 
Jesus on the subject of prayer confirms the view 
we have now taken. He does not speak of 
prayer as a duty, but as a privilege. He does 
not lay down strict and formal rules for prayer ; 
he does not command fixed hours of prayer. He 
tells us not to use vain repetitions, not to think to 
be heard for our much speaking. It is, " Ask, 
and ye shall receive." This is the motive for 
prayer which he sets before us. And in the 
parable which teaches, ''that men oiiglit always 
to pray, and not to faint," w^e see that this 
" ought " means only to encourage us to perse- 
vere in prayer, and not be discouraged because 
the strength or the peace which we need does not 
immediately come. And the fact that every 
thing which is told us of the prayers of Jesus is 
so incidental^ proves that he himself gave no 
countenance to the prayer of mere duty. 

There are those, doubtless, who may appre- 
hend danger from such a view as this. They 
will fear that, except men be urged to pray as a 



PEAYER NOT COMMANDED. 



189 



duty, they will not pray even as much as they do 
now. And undoubtedly this is true to a certain 
extent. Those who have been praying merely 
from a sense of duty will be glad to leave off 
praying altogether, and with them to " pray with- 
out ceasing " will amount to not praying at all. 
It is unquestionably the case, that, when prayer 
is enjoined as a duty, there is a great deal more 
of the form of prayer than when it is made the 
free-will offering of the heart. Nowhere in 
Christendom is there so much earnest outward 
prayer as in Mohammedan countries. There, 
when the hour of prayer is sounded from the 
minaret, men fall on their knees in the streets, 
in the market, wholly absorbed in the act, so that 
you might almost run over them and they would 
not notice you. Nowhere in Protestant churches 
is there such absorbed and constant prayer as 
among the Catholics. . "At that time," says 
Luther in his Table-talk, " my wife asked me, 
' How is it that in the Romish Church there is so 
much and such fervent prayer, while we are 
very cold and careless in our praying ? ' " The 
answer of the Reformer, though ungraciously 
worded, had a truth in it, — " The Devil," says 
he, drives them to pray." It is the spirit of 
constraint, of anxiety, of fear ; not of love, or 



190 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

cheerful faith, which makes up a great deal of 
such prayer. And so, in Protestant communions, 
those who take the most liberal views will al- 
ways be found behind the others in religious zeal 
and the observances of piety. But what then ? 
We do not find that all this formal prayer tends 
to build up a holier or more godly life in Moham- 
medan countries than in Christian ; in Catholic 
countries than in Protestant ; in the stricter sects 
of Protestantism than in the more free. I do not 
find that Episcopacy, with its forms, has made a 
more godly people than Quakerism, with its ex- 
treme and utter informality. Yet let us not run 
into either extreme. Let us use forms, and ob- 
serve seasons and times, so that they may help 
us, and not hinder us. 

§ 39. The Holy Spirit, 

The great result of Prayer is the gift of the 
Holy Spirit. This was given originally in the 
Christian Church in answer to prayer, either of 
the believer himself, or of some one else for him. 
The order of the Christian life was, first. Faith ; 
next, E,epentance ; next, the Holy Spirit. The 
gift of the Holy Spirit was in order to make 
the believer wholly a Christian, and no one was 
considered to be a Christian wholly till he had 



THE HOLY SPIRIT. 



191 



received the Holy Ghost. By Faith he became 
a Christian in thought, by Repentance he became 
a Christian in action, and then by the Holy Spirit 
he was made a Christian in heart and Ufe. But 
all which he himself needed to do, in order to re- 
ceive this gift, was to believe in it, and to ask for 
it. Without it, he stood on the lower plane of a 
mere believer in Christianity ; with it, he had 
Christ formed within him, the hope of gloiy. 
He w^as made thus a living Christian, full of faith, 
hope^ and love. From this fulness of inward 
life, his outward life came, as the stream flows 
from its fountain, pushed forward for ever by a 
power behind. It was this inward life, hidden 
with Christ in God, which gave him energy, gave 
him patience, gave him insight and foresight, 
fitted him for his sphere and work, made him 
ready to live or to die. 

The gift of the Holy Spirit, then, at first, was 
an essential part of the Christian's life. Is it any 
less essential now } Can we be truly and living- 
ly and effectually Christians, without constant 
prayer to God for his Spirit, and the constant re- 
ception of it as daily bread, the source of daily 
life ? I see not how. I see a poor and meagre 
Christianity, built up by opinions about Jesus, ex- 
erting itself to fulfil a sphere of duty more or 



192 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYEE. 

less extended : — but how cold and cheap<a thing 
is this compared with Christian life ! Whdit wo 
need is a life steadily fed from within by God, a 
life of Insight, of Foresight, of Love, of Action. 
This life should develop at once every individual 
tendency in the soul, and also those deeper con- 
victions and aims in which all souls are one. 
But let us see further what this life is, and what 
are its results. 

§ 40. Christ in the Heart. — Inward Life, 

The Life which results from Prayer is, in the 
first place, the life of Christ in the heart. This 
alone makes one fully a Christian. For, accord- 
ing to the New Testament, Christianity is not a 
creed, nor a transient emotion, nor an outward 
behavior, but an inward and an outward life. It 
is called in the New Testament by this name, but 
with the adjective " Eternal," in order to distin- 
guish it from temporal or bodily life. For Eter- 
nal Life, in the New Testament, by no means 
implies immortality, or a continuation of our out- 
ward existence, but much rather inward immor- 
tality, or spiritual life. As temporal life is the 
life of the soul in time, fed out of time, so eter- 
nal life is that life of the soul which is fed out of 
eternity. It is not merely continued existence ; 



INWARD LIFE. 



193 



for while, as we believe, all will concmae to ex- 
ist, eternal life is conditional; it comes through 
faith, — through faith in Jesus and his words, — 
" the meat which endureth unto everlasting life." 
(John vi. 27.) It is continually repeated, that 
" whosoever helieveth in Jesus shall have ever- 
lasting life." (John iii. 15, 16.) It is also said, 
that eternal life already commences in this world, 
and that " he that believeth hath everlasting life 
ahiding in him " ; which also indicates a present, 
and not a future immortality. And yet again we 
read, that " this is life eternal, to know " God and 
Christ ; which implies that it is a state of con- 
viction, an inward life. 

The natural type and emblem of this higher life 
is our bodily life. As the body lives by means of 
the indwelling soul, so the soul lives by means of 
the indwelling spirit. The soul of man which 
gives life to the body receives itself a higher life 
from the spirit. By means of the soul, the body 
ceases to be a machine, only moved by external 
forces, but is filled and pervaded throughout with 
an activity of its own. And so by means of the 
spirit the soul ceases to be moved and swayed by 
the world without, by earthly passions and de- 
sires, but reacts freely from its own steadfast con- 
victions and purposes, moves freely toward its 
17 



194 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTEINE OF PRAYER. 



own chosen aim. This steadfast life is that 
which Christ promised his disciples as the gift of 
the Holy Spirit. He continually dwells upon it 
in the last chapters of John, as that which is to 
make all things new within their souls, to give 
them new convictions of truth, to bring all things 
to their remembrance, and to teach them more 
hereafter than they were then capable of receiving. 
The Holy Spirit was to be the Comforter, to com- 
fort them in the outward absence of their Master, 
by bringing them inwardly near to him. He con- 
tinually repeats, in every varying way, that the 
Holy Spirit is a divine influence on the heart to 
bring them near to himself. " He shall take of 
mine, and shall show it unto vou." " He shall tes- 
tify of me.*" So that it is in fact Christ himself 
returning inwardly to them, after having left them 
outwardly. This Comforter-, the Spirit of Truth, 
who was to abide with them for ever, whom the 
world did not know but whom they knew, who 
dwelt with them and was to be in them, — what 
was this but Christ himself ? This he says in ex- 
press terms : " I will not leave you comfortless, 1 
will come to you." He predicts the most inti- 
mate union between his disciples, himself, and 
God, — whoever loves him shall see him, shall 
live by his life. (John xiv. 15-23.) And this is 



CHRIST IN THE HEART. 



195 



not to be a transient visit, but a permanent abode. 
" My Father and I will love him, and we will 
come to him, and make our abode with him." 

Now, who does not see that this inward, per- 
sonal communion with Christ, through the medium 
of the Father's influence, is the one thing most 
needed, both for private and public Christianity. 
Because we are not living thus inwardly near to 
Christ, inwardly fed by his life, our souls want 
strength, beauty, peace, profound conviction, and 
power. We are weak and vacillating, because we 
have only opinions and not convictions. Instead 
of knowing God and knowing Christ, instead of 
seeing the truth, we have only probable belief 
concerning it. Instead of a fixed aim steadily 
pursued, we are swayed to and fro by the fluctua- 
tions of worldly opinions around us. Instead of 
inward peace and satisfaction, derived from con- 
stant intercourse with God and constant recep- 
tion of his forgiving love, we are beset with dis- 
content, self-reproach, and spiritual anxiety. 
Thus weak in ourselves, we cannot make others 
strong. Having nothing ourselves, we can give 
nothing to others ; for it is giving ourselves which 
does good. 

" Not what we give, but what we share, 
For the gift without the giver is bare." 



196 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

Therefore we cannot be what every Christiah 
ought to be, — the " salt of the earth," the " light 
of the world," a fixed axis around which other 
things shall revolve. The Christian who is in- 
wardly near to Christ, is like one who should be 
able to see the stars in the daytime, and thus 
have the power to determine the position and di- 
rection of every thing around him. He ought to 
give law to the world ; to judge it, its maxims, its 
customs, by a higher standard, — to be always its 
censor, its sibyl, its oracle. But without the in- 
ward life he is able to do nothing of this, he be- 
comes a mere echo of the public opinion about 
him, and he loses all power of real usefulness. 

Perhaps it may be said, that, as long as the 
Christian has the Bible in his hands, he ought to 
be able to resist this tendency. But we read the 
Bible as we read every thing else, by means of 
our own experience, and by the light of our own 
present belief. We see in it more or less what 
we bring with us. The truths in the Bible 
must be spiritually discerned. Every thing that 
we read we necessarily translate as we read 
it, so as to bring it into some harmony with our 
previous stock of ideas Hence the Bible is 
made to teach all sorts of doctrines, to defend all 
kinds of abuses, to oppose every reform, and 



THE HOLY SPIRIT. 



197 



keep the world and Church from the development 
which God intends. The Bible is made an 
anchor holding the Church fast in the flowing 
current of time, instead of a compass by which 
its course may be guided to more blessed shores. 
Therefore, to understand the Bible, we need an 
inward life, rooted in Christ, and fed by the Holy 
Spirit. 

Now, there are three false views of the Holy 
Spirit, which, at the present day, prevent our 
Christianity from being a life ; prevent us from 
realizing this constant peace which is also light 
and strength ; prevent us from being able to say 
that our life is hid with Christ in God," and 
from understanding the Apostle when he de- 
clares, " I live, yet not I, but Christ who lives in 
me." These false views of the Holy Spirit are 
those which make its influences arbitrar}^, — 
which make its influences irresistible, — and 
which make of it a third person distinct from 
Christ himself. Taking either of these views, we 
are impeded in our prayers, or prevented from 
praying the prayer of Faith. 

An opinion prevails in the Church, that the 
Holy Spirit is given arbitrarily, and not according 
to any fixed law. Men speak of the Holy Spirit 
us coming and going, as sometimes being in one 
17* 



19S THE CHRISTIA>' DOCTRIXE OF PRATER. 



place and sometimes in another ; they speak of 
God's withholding it, and often show in their 
prayers that they are quite uncenain as to 
whether the Spirit will be given or not. Of 
course they cannot pray the prayer of Faith, but 
only a doubtful and hesitatmg prayer. The 
Holy Spirit ceases to be an habitual presence, 
God and Christ makino: their abode in the heart, 
but becomes a transient influence, a sudden in- 
cursion of God into the soul ; it is no longer the 
still, small voice, but rather the whirlwind and 
the fire. But this view is surely opposed to the 
whole doctrine and spirit of the New Testament. 
Christ teaches that the Holy Spirit is always 
given to those who ask it, and that it would be as 
impossible for God to refuse it, as for a good 
parent to give his child a stone instead of a piece 
of bread. And accord inslv, throughout the New 
Testament, it is assumed that these divine influ- 
ences make up a constant part of the Christian 
life. Christians are taught to pray " in the 
Holy Spirit"; the Spirit is said to dwell in 
us''; we are taught that we are 'Med*' by it, 
that it gives us our faith in Christ, gives us the 
sense that we are the children of God, enables 
us to call God Father, helps us to pray, and is, 
in sum, the source of ever}' part of a Chr'^tian's 



THE SPIRIT NOT A PERSON. 



199 



life. All Christians drink into one spint, and 
though the^ have various gifts of faith or knowl- 
edge, yet the source of all is the same. We are 
to live in the Spirit," and " walk in the Spirit," 
and sow to the Spirit," and so we shall have 
" the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, and peace." 
Its influences are compared with the regular 
operations of nature. If we sow to the Spirit, we 
shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. It is a 
steady light and warmth in the soul, which we 
are not to quench ; a friend ever near, whom we 
are not to grieve away. Therefore we may be 
sure that at every moment, under all circumstan- 
ces, God is waiting to be gracious ; we have only 
to open the door of the heart, and he enters ; we 
have only to turn in to the depths of the soul, and 
we find our life, " our life hid with Christ in God." 

Another false view concerning the Holy 
Spirit is that which makes of it a separate per- 
son from Christ himself. The Scripture view, as 
given in the Gospel of John, is, as we have seen, 
that through God's influence on the heart we are 
brought into inward relation with Christ. For as 
Christ brings us to the Father, so the Father 
leads us to the Son. Thus God and Christ come 
and make their abode in the heart. He who be- 
lieves this always prays to God to be brought 



200 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER, 

near to Christ ; the object to whom he prays is the 
Father, the aim of his prayer is union with the 
Father and the Son. But now, if, instead of this 
simple and exquisite relation, instead of this union 
with the Father and the Son for which Christ 
prayed, asking it for his disciples, we have a 
third and distinct personality introduced, it not 
only confuses the mind, but interferes with the 
great object of the prayer. We know what we 
need when we ask for Christ, for we have his 
historic life and his recorded words as a guide. 
We know what Christian experience is, we know 
Faith, Hope, Love, Humility, Patience ; but the 
Holy Spirit, as a separate person^ we do not 
know. Consequently there is something foreign 
in this idea. It does not mingle easily with the 
regular flow of the Christian life. It is always 
looked for as a preternatural influence out of the 
course of nature ; and, consequently, with this 
view of the Holy Spirit, our prayers will be less 
regular, less constant, less connected with the 
fulness of Christian life. Hence it is that those 
who, in theory, accept the doctrine of the distinct 
personality of the Holy Spirit, set it aside so 
much in their prayers. The devotions of Chris- 
tendom do not recognize the Holy Spirit as the 
object of prayer, in the same way that they rec« 



THE SPIRIT NOT IRRESISTIBLE. 201 



ognize the Father and the Son. Most of the 
devotion of the Church is offered to the Father, as 
Christ directed all to be. But for consistency's 
sake, and also because there is a personal attach- 
ment to Jesus, a small portion, perhaps a fifth 
or a tenth part of the whole, is addressed to him. 
But seldom indeed is the Holy Spirit addressed 
as a distinct person. So much wiser are Chris- 
tian instincts than Christian opinions. Yet these 
false opinions come in to confuse and trouble the 
mind, and, so far as they exercise any influence, 
exercise a pernicious one. 

The third false view to which I referred is that 
which makes the influence of the Spirit irresist- 
ible. This view, directly opposed to the Scrip- 
ture, comes only from the desire for logical con- 
sistency in those who accept a Calvinistic view 
of divine influence. The Scripture tells us not 
to " quench the Spirit," not to " grieve the 
Spirit," to " draw nigh to God and he will draw 
nigh to us." The doctrine of the Scripture is, 
that it is always in our power to open or to close 
the door of the heart ; that it becomes closed to 
God by sin ; that all wilfulness, worldliness, anxi- 
ety, selfishness, shuts out God and Christ. Then 
the soul is left barren, cold, empty, incapable of 
any true virtue. What can we do then ^ We 



202 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRATER. 

cannot by an act of the will create within the 
heart Christian sentiments and graces ; we can- 
not by moral effort create within the soul generosi- 
ty or love. What can we do ? We can open 
the door; we can let God's influence come into 
the heart to lead us to Christ, to give us a sense 
of his pardoning love,, to lift us to a higher plane 
of conviction. And this is prayer in its most 
essential nature. 

When we take this view of prayer, — when the 
Church takes this view, — what a change will 
take place in the inward life of Christians ! 
Those views of Christianity which are now 
thought mystical, will be seen to be the only 
truly rational ones. The doctrines of Christian 
perfection which are regarded as heresies, being 
better understood, will be recognized as integral 
parts of Christian truth. It will be seen that the 
whole of a Christian's life must flow from God 
and Christ, and that prayer, or keeping open the 
soul to God, must be without ceasing. It will be 
seen that to live in the Spirit is the only true life ; 
that we are away from ourselves when we are 
away from God ; that to keep ourselves thus in 
the love of God is in reality easier than to alter- 
nate from moods of worldliness to moods of piety. 
Then the word Piety will no more indicate some- 



TRUE PIETY. 



203 



thing strange or foreign, something grafted into 
the soul from without, but will be seen to be the 
life of the soul according to its own highest law. 
This piety will be in nothing ascetic ; it will be 
full of joy and cheerfulness, because it partakes 
every day of the true wine of life. It will have 
no anxiety about outward things, or inward things, 
trusting always in God for all. It will not seek 
as its aim to save its soul, knowing that its soul 
is safe while it is near God. It will not serve 
God from hope of heaven, or fear of hell, but 
because his service is perfect freedom. Its 
goodness will not be that of effort and struggle, 
its life will not be hard work, but God working 
withki the heart to will and to do of his good* 
pleasure. Its maxim will not be, " To work is to 
pray," but " Work out of Prayer." And ita 
prayer will be thanksgiving and gratitude, to- 
gether with supplication, for perfect love wiU 
have cast out fear. 

" Heavenly Father, Life Divine ! 
Change my nature into thine I 
Move and spread throughout my soul, 
Actuate and fill the whole I 
Be it I no longer now 
Living in the flesh, but Thou." 



204 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTEINE OP PRAYER. 

§41. Christ in the Character, — Moral Culture. 

The effect of Prayer when thus explained as 
Lif") flowing from God, is very important in its 
moral results. If our aim be the perfection of 
our moral nature, we may set about it in two 
ways. We may make direct attempts for the 
cultivation of certain virtues, and for the repres- 
sion of certain vices, taking them up one by one 
as a matter of discipline. Or, we may labor on 
the whole instead of the parts, by living in the 
Spirit, living near to God and Christ, and so 
learning also to walk in the Spirit. Both meth- 
ods are good, but the second is the most thorough. 
It is the method of Nature, which works upon all 
parts of the plant at the same time, by filling the 
whole with life. The great thing needed for 
moral development is more vital power. Love 
will make all things new. A profound influence 
in the centre of the soul will cause all parts of 
life to bud and blossom and bear fruit. 

This great change in the character produced by 
a new inward life flowing from God, is continu- 
ally referred to and described in the New Testa- 
ment. It is " putting oflT the old man, and put- 
ting "on the new man, who after God is created 
in righteousness and true holiness." It is spoken 



CimrSTIAN CHARACTER. 205 

of as the " fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, 
long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meek- 
ness, temperance." It is building one's self 
up in the Holy Ghost. It is described as be- 
coming a new creature : " If any man be in 
Christ, he is a new creature ; old things have 
passed away, all things have become new." 
And how these expressions are illustrated by the 
wonderful change which took place in the char- 
acters of the Apostles after the Ascension of 
Jesus, and the gift of the Holy Ghost ! Certainly 
they all became new creatures ; certainly old 
things passed away, and all things became new. 
What an immense development took place in 
each under the influence of this inward life 
flowing from God ! How the specialities of char- 
acter in Peter, James, John, Paul, were brought 
out by the indwelling spirit. It did not give an 
outward discipline, but an inward development. 
It was not training, but education, that is, the 
educing each man's most intimate and special 
character, as the sun of spring educes the life of 
every seed according to the separate law of its 
organization. This is the difference between 
moral training and moral education. Moral 
traming gives us some outward type to be imi- 
tated, some outward example to be followed, 
18 



206 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

some outward law to be obeyed. But moral edu- 
cation is the growth of the soul, " first the blade, 
then the ear, afterward the full corn in the ear." 
Now, religion has been made too much an out- 
ward discipline, and too little an inward develop- 
ment. Men have been trained according to some 
one type of character ; in the Catholic Church 
by the rule of different orders, the rule of St. 
Benedict, the rule of St. Francis, or St. Loyola. 
And moral discipline as laid down in Protestant 
books of ethics has been always too much an out- 
ward conformity to some excellent model, too 
little a growth from within. But in the New 
Testament it is not so. We do not read there of 
the Imitation even of Christ, and nothing is said 
of modelling one's self after Christ, much less 
after Paul or John. What we are to do is not to 
imitate Christ, but to " grow up in all things into 
him who is our head, even Christ Jesus."" 

In this growth was shown the possibility of un- 
folding individual distinctions, even while obeying 
a common law. They grew up by the same 
Christian progress into identity and diversity, into 
the most profound central unity of conviction, 
aim, experience, — into the most marked diver- 
sity of taste, tendency, faculty. Peter, James, 
John, Paul, — how wholly different from each 



VARIETY IN UNITY. 



207 



other do they appear in their writings, and yet 
now profoundly at one in their central convic- 
tions ! The unity and variety of character in 
these four Apostles is the sufficient proof of what 
otherwise might seem doubtful, that a profound 
spiritual influence develops all that is individual 
in character, while it brings all these individuali- 
ties into harmony with each other. 

These varieties of development, unfolded under 
the influence of the Holy Spirit, seem to be 
described in the New Testament, by the phrase 
" gifts of the Spirit." The description given us by 
Paul (1 Cor. xii.) of spiritual gifts, points directly 
at this variety in harmony, which, as it has been 
called the principle of beauty, may also be called 
the principle of goodness. Paul speaks of diver- 
sities of gifts, but the same Spirit, and how the 
Spirit gives to one man the word of wisdom, to 
another the word of knowledge, and the like. 
He compares this variety in unity to the variety 
in unity of the human body. His purpose in this 
place leads him to regard this variety of Chris- 
tian faculty as resulting from variety of spiritual 
influence ; but though he does not give the reason 
for the variety, nor say why the Spirit should give 
to one man wisdom, and to another man knowl- 
edge, we cannot suppose that this is witlwut rea- 



208 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

son, or arbitrary. As no reason is given, we are 
at liberty to assume that reason which is the most 
probable, and accordingly we may infer that the 
influence of the Spirit developed various faculties, 
according to original differences of organization. 
In this case, the development being sudden mad(> 
it seem more like a pure gift. A man finds him- 
self suddenly in the possession of a special facul- 
ty, the power of prophecy, of healing, of working 
miracles, and he naturally regards it as a new 
faculty imparted by God wholly ab extra. But 
there was probably the basis in his nature for the 
special gift. The influence ah extra was the 
same Divine Spirit, but within each individual 
was to be found the reason of the diversity of 
result. 

But the great difference between moral train- 
ing and moral growth is to be found in the dif- 
ferent motive power and the difference in the 
results. Moral training is a painful struggle from 
a sense of duty to form habits of virtue by the 
mere force of individual will. Moral growth is 
a happy unfolding of spiritual faculties from love 
to God, and by the power of his indwelling 
Spirit. In the one case it is all struggle and con- 
flict, in the other it is life and growth. In the 
one case it is a task carried on with anxiety and 



GROWTH THROUGH THE SPIRIT. 209 

discouragement ; in the other no task, no toil, but 
the opening of the heart to receive heavenly 
gifts, in the firm faith that all needful power will 
be imparted. And because anxiety palsies and 
weakens, because confidence gives strength, 
therefore the success in the two methods is also 
very different. The great power in man which 
enables him to accomplish important results for 
himself or others, is not the unaided will, but the 
faculty of putting himself in harmony with the 
great tides of life which flow from God, and flow 
through the race. He who works from himself 
can do something, but he who works from God 
can do every thing. " I can do nothing of my- 
self," is the still stronger statement of the Apos- 
tle, — " I can do all things through Christ who 
strengthens me." 

When, therefore, prayer shall become the ele- 
ment of all Christian life, when the heart shall be 
always kept open toward God, when we shall live 
in the Spirit, and w^alk in the Spirit, and thus 
have God and Christ abiding within us, there will 
be a great development of moral character in all 
directions. The virtues now painfully cultivated, 
starveling plants pinched by frost and withered 
by heat, will grow up fair and fruitful out of this 
inward life. Christian character will not be 
18* 



210 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAIER. 

formed after one model, nor a monotonous repeti- 
tion of external forms, but healthfully varied by 
all that is original and free and natural in human 
organization. Then shall virtue be also beauty, 
not harsh and hard conscience, not crabbed mo- 
rality, but graceful and harmonious as the sights 
and sounds of nature. 

" Serene shall be our day and bright, 
And happy shall our nature be, 
When love is an unerring light, 
And joy its own security." 

§ 42. Christ in the Church, — Christian Union 
and Cooperation, 

When prayer thus pervades all of life, its in- 
fluence will be felt in the Church, in many new 
ways. The prayers of the Church are now more 
or less spasmodic and irregular. The ideas of 
the Church concerning the answer to prayer 
make of it too much a magical influence, disturb- 
ing the laws of the mind. When instead of this, 
the answer to prayer is seen to be a part of the 
universal order, and prayer thus becomes regu- 
lated, and is the source of all our activity, a love 
will flow from God into the Christian Church, 
which will enable it, first, to be in union with it- 
self, and, secondly, to convert the world. The 



CHRISTIAN UNION. 



211 



life of God flowing first into the individual soul, 
then developing all forms of Christian character, 
will afterward bring the Christian Church into its 
true unity. 

The great need of the Protestant Church at the 
present time is union, as the great need of the 
Roman Catholic Church is freedom. This union 
is sought for by Protestants in all ways ; they try 
to produce a unity of form like that of the Cath- 
olics, but they find it impossible ; they try to 
produce unity of opinion by means of creeds, 
but every new creed is like a wedge introduced 
into a denomination to split it in twain. By and 
by it will be seen, that the union needed is not 
that of opinion, nor of form, but unity of spirit 
and action. The power of the Protestant Church 
is in its sects ; its weakness is in its sectarianism. 
Its sects, with their various forms of opinion, 
worship, and religious manifestation, adapt them- 
selves to all varieties of human character. Those 
who cannot be moved by the Episcopalians are 
converted by the Methodists ; those who aie not 
reached by the Presbyterians are found by the 
Quakers ; a peculiar class of minds are fed out 
of the cup of Swedenborg ,; and some who cannot 
believe without their understanding, or against 
their reason, come naturally to the Unitarians. 



212 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

Thus one sect is the hand, one the eye, one the 
foot, one the brain, and one the heart, — many 
members, but not one body. This variety of ad- 
ministration is the power and beauty of Protes- 
tantism. But the mutual hostility of its sects 
is its weakness and disgrace. The Church needs 
not that its sects should be abolished, but that 
their sectarian hostility should be destroyed ; that 
they should no longer contend, but cooperate. 
They should come to a mutual understanding, 
and arrange a system of cooperation. In every 
city, in every village, there should be a central 
organization in which all sects should be repre- 
sented, and which should determine the sphere of 
activity for each. To the Methodists should be 
assigned one part of the field of labor, to the 
Presbyterians another, to the Episcopalians a 
third. Where the Methodists could do the most 
good, their Church should be established, and all 
the other sects work therein ; where some other 
denomination could do the most good, that should 
be established by a general agreement. 

The difficulty which now makes such coop- 
eration impossible is quite apparent. It is, that 
each sect considers itself, not as a sect, but as 
the whole. Episcopalians think that everybody 
should become Episcopalians ; Methodists are 



WHAT PREVENTS UNION. 



213 



persuaded that Methodism is to swallow up all 
the Church ; Calvinists suppose that it is essential 
for every one to accept the creed of Calvin. In- 
stead of considering themselves integral parts of 
the body, — a hand, a foot, an eye, which would 
be honor enough, — they consider themselves the 
whole body. While this notion prevails, there 
can of course be no such thing as union. Now 
what is to correct this narrowness ? I see no 
hope but in a deeper Christian life. For it is 
evident that the union of Forms and the union of 
Opinion are neither practicable nor desirable. 
There is no probability that any one of the exist- 
ing Protestant sects is to absorb into itself all the 
rest, nor that any one of the different creeds is to 
swallow all the others. The tendency still con- 
tinues the other way. Every year, new sects and 
new creeds present themselves. Nor is such a 
result desirable, were it practicable ; for no exist- 
ing forms or creeds are the best absolutely, but 
each of them is the best relatively. One form, 
one creed, is the best for one class of minds, — 
another form, another creed, is the best for anoth- 
er class of minds. 

It is impossible for the bigot or the sectarian 
to understand this, for to them their creed and 
sect is the equivalent of Christianity. The one 



214 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 



is narrow-minded, the other is narrow-hearted, 
and the cure for the narrow mind and the narrow 
heart is equally to be found in a deeper Christian 
experience. This will lead the narrow-minded 
man into larger insight, and the narrow-hearted 
man into larger love. The man who has been 
accustomed to regard his creed as an adequate 
statement of Christian truth, finds, as he passes 
into a deeper religious life, that new views open 
continually before him. For life is the light of 
man. It is not knowledge which is the source of 
life, but life which is the source of knowledge. 
That is to say, all new knowledge comes to us 
from experience ; knowledge of outward things 
through sensible experience, knowledge of spirit- 
ual things through spiritual experience. Reflec- 
tion, on the contrary, which clears up, arranges, 
and defines our knowledge, thereby limits it. 
The substance of truth comes to us through ex- 
perience, the form of truth through reflection. 
Hence, while reflection, in the form of theology, 
defines, arranges, bounds, it necessarily limits ; 
fencing in the truth which we possess, it fen- 
ces out that which we have not yet obtained. 
But Christian experience leads us on to fresh 
fields and pastures new ; enables us to find a soul 
of truth, where we have supposed that there was 



DEEPER LIFE DEEPER UNION. 215 

only unmixed error, and thus produces a true 
Christian liberality. 

Hence we find that spiritual Christians are 
seldom bigots. The more deep and thorough 
their Christian experience, the more are they able 
to recognize elements of truth in the opinions of 
others ; the higher they ascend toward God, the 
wider is the horizon of truth which they com- 
mand. Their test of Christianity is the life of 
Christ in the soul, and they recognize this as 
being present amid a great variety of opinions. 
Where this divine life exists, they are sure 
that essential truth cannot be wanting, and this 
life is to them the one thing needful ; where it is, 
they find a brother, they are drawn toward it by 
an irresistible attraction, and their deepest sym- 
pathies are with all who love the Lord Jesus 
Christ in sincerity. The affinities of the sec- 
tarian are with those who accept the same forms 
with himself, the affinities of the theologian ara 
with those who accept the same opinions with 
himself ; but the affinities of the spiritual man are 
with those who have the same inward life with 
himself. The sectarian does not care much what 
a man's opinions are, nor what his Christian ex- 
perience is, provided he will join his Church, and 
accept his forms. The true Church being ac- 



216 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

cepted, he thinks that every thing else will come. 
He is, therefore, often quite liberal as regards 
differences of opinion and states of heart ; he will 
admit into his Church heretics, publicans, and 
sinners, but he is relentless toward those who pre- 
fer another denomination or form of worship to 
his. The bigot, on the other hand, does not care 
much what a man's denomination is, nor what 
his Christian experience is, provided he believes 
a certain creed ; the true creed being accepted, 
he thinks that every thing else will come. He 
may, therefore, be liberal toward members of 
other sects, but is relentless toward those who 
iliffer from him on any point of theological opin- 
ion. Meantime, the man of deeper Christian ex- 
|)erience feels sure that, where Christ is formed 
m the soul, all essential truth and all important 
external forms will come. The unity, therefore, 
which he desires, is the unity of the spirit in the 
bond of peace. 

Therefore, when Jesus stood among his disci- 
ples collected for the last time, and prayed with 
them, he prayed for this union among Christians, 
flowing out of their union with God and with 
himself. He prayed that they might be all one, 
as he was one with God. Therefore it was not 
for an ecclesiastical, or doctrinal, but for a spirit- 



CHRIST IN THE WORLD. 



211 



ual union, that he besought the Father m this 
solemn, supreme hour. And now the Christian 
Church, having tried in succession, and tried in 
vain, the experiment of ecclesiastical and formal 
union, will try, and try successfully, its last great 
experiment of a unity in the spirit flowing out 
of the life of Christ. This being established, the 
Church will be perfectly at one. Peace will be 
within its walls, and prosperity within its palaces. 
And so, inwardly united and at one with itself, it 
will be able to go forward with confidence toward 
the conversion of the world. 

§ 43. Christ in the World, 

When the prayer of faith, returning into the 
Church, has thus made the Church at one, it will 
then have power to manifest Christ to the world. 
Then the world will believe that God has sent 
him. For the heathen world cannot be converted 
to Christ till Christendom becomes truly Chris- 
tian ; Christian nations will not become really 
Christian till the Church is at one in the life of 
Christ, and the Church will only thus become at 
one as individual Christians learn to pray the 
prayer of faith, and to live in the spirit of that 
prayer. Christ enters first into the individual 
heart, next into the collective life of the Church, 
19 



218 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

then into the life of Christian nations, and shall at 
last come to reign the true King of the world. 
Then every knee shall bow, and every tongue 
confess him to be Lord, to the glory of God 
the Father. 

The slow progress of Christianity in the world 
has been a source of doubt and discouragement 
from the first. " Where is the promise of his 
coming ? " was a question anxiously asked even 
in the days of the Apostles, and it is anxiously 
asked still. Everything seems to remain as it 
was, eveiything to go on as it did. The reign 
of Christ was to be a reign of peace, but war 
still rages among the nations. Christ was to 
break every yoke, but slavery still exists, and 
that even in our own land. The poor were to 
have the Gospel preached to them, but the prac- 
tical Gospel of love is not so preached as yet. 
All were to be taught of God, and to know him, 
but ignorance prevails throughout Christendom. 
Unjust distinctions, excessive luxury, gross vices, 
still continue throughout the world. When, then, 
is Christ to come, and what shall be the signs of 
his coming ? What shall be the signs of the end 
of the heathen age, and the beginning of the 
Christian era ? 

The progress of Christianity as a reforming 



PROGRESS OF CHRISTIANITY. 219 



infldence has indeed been slow, as men count 
slackness. But God has a great deal of time, 
and is never in a hurry. Consider the vast 
geological epochs which preceded the earth's 
arrival at its present form, — epochs computed 
not by thousands of years, but by hundreds of 
thousands. Consider the astronomical fact that 
nebulae can be seen by Lord Rosse's telescope, 
the light of which has been millions of years in 
travelling the depths of space, — consequently 
nebulae which we see as they were millions of 
years ago. Such facts should lift us in our reflec- 
tions out of the limitations of our own short life. 
An ephemeral insect might be disappointed that 
in his long life of a whole summer's day men 
had made no more progress toward the comple- 
tion of an edifice on which he made his home. 
So we complain, — human ephemera, — but re- 
ceive the true solution of. our doubts in the Apos- 
tle's words, " that with God a thousand years are 
as one day." Eighteen and a half centuries, 
therefore, have only brought us to the afternoon 
of the second day since the birth of Jesus. The 
question of slow or fast is one which we cannot 
moot in relation to the progress of Christianity. 
The only question is, Does Christianity really 
make progress } And in regard to that, how can 



220 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER, 

there be any doubt ? Its influence and advance 
in both the ways predicted by Jesas are apparent 
in human history. As the " leaven hid in the 
meal," an unseen influence pervading society,' 
and as an institution small at first as " a grain of 
mustard-seed," but growing until the birds lodge 
in its branches, Christianity has determined the 
direction of all modern history. Modern history 
is the history of Christian civilization, and its 
characteristic feature is the progressive diffusion 
among the masses of the privileges formerly 
monopolized by the few. So, too, as an institu- 
tion, it has developed itself first in the form of a 
Church, with outward unity, and a powerful hie- 
rarchy ; next, in the form of a Creed ; thirdly, 
as an inward Life of Piety ; and is now advan- 
cing into its last great epoch of an outward life 
of Human Brotherhood. 

Thus far, it is true, the Christian Church has 
not devoted itself with energy to the improve- 
ment of society, the removal of social evils, and 
the coming of God's kingdom in the world. It 
has been more interested in ecclesiastical ques- 
tions, theological questions, and questions of ex- 
perimental religion, than in those which regard 
morality and humanity. It has spent vast energy 
of thought upon questions of Church organiza- 



ONE'SIDEDNESS OF ACTION. 



221 



tion, of the Papacy, of the Episcopacy, of adult 
and infant baptism, of liturgies, and of sacra- 
ments. It has devoted itself with the utmost 
strain of thought, and outlay of learning, to the 
discussion of the doctrines of the Trinity, Human 
Depravity, the Divine Decrees, and the Atone- 
ment of Christ. It has used eveiy effort to con 
vert souls to God, to promote personal piety, to 
enlarge the borders of the Church, and to produce 
revivals of religion. But thus far it has done 
much less to remove pauperism, to reform crim- 
inals, to comfort the sick, to visit the prisoner, 
to save the victims of licentiousness, to prevent 
popular vices, to elevate the standard of educa- 
tion, to abolish slavery, to put a stop to war. 
These, no doubt, it ought to have done, without 
leaving the others undone. 

One bad consequence of this one-sidedness m 
the action of the Church has been the produc- 
tion of a similar one-sidedness on the part of 
philanthropists. Because religion has been di- 
vorced from philanthropy, therefore morality is 
in turn divorced from religion. Earnest and con- 
scientious men, looking at the evils of society, 
form associations for removing these evils by 
force of argument and discussion. Deeply con- 
vinc(5d of the Christian character of these enter- 
19* 



222 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

prises, and finding the Church indifferent to ihem 
and occupied only with works of piety, they 
denounce this indifference, and undervalue the 
works of piety in order to celebrate the works of 
philanthropy. And thus this unfortunate schism 
is perpetuated between the two departments of 
Christian life. And thus all humane efforts lan- 
guish and stand still, for want of the powerful 
central influence which comes from piety. 

For all the good works done in the past have 
been done by the power of Faith. This is the 
great lever by which man is moved, by which the 
world is lifted, and heaven is the place outside 
of earth where the philanthropists must stand to 
move this lever. Faith in God, in a special 
Providence, in an answer to Prayer, has given 
strength to the weak, and wrought wonders in the 
history of the world. Misdirected as to its end, it 
has manifested powers which, when rightly used, 
are adequate to change the whole face of society. 
That power of Faith which carried Christian 
Europe to faint on the hot sands of Syria, in 
order to recover the tomb where Christ's body 
was laid, will one day accomplish greater won- 
ders in building the home where his spirit shall 
dwell. That power of faith which enabled the 
Maid of Arc, by her own force, to reverse the 



POWER OF FAITH. 



223 



fortunes of war and to reconquer France, will 
nerve many another spirit,. pure and true as hers, 
in nobler conquests over misery and sin. The 
power of Faith which in the thirteenth century 
covered Europe with magnificent cathedrals, 
which the present age may admire, but cannot 
rival, will erect more beautiful temples for divine 
worship, not of stone and wood, but of reformed 
institutions and an altered society. The power 
of Faith which brought the Mayflower to Plymouth 
harbor, bearing within its small cabin the founders 
of a great nation, will yet change and ennoble all 
our institutions, till they become those of a truly 
Christian commonwealth. It is the power of 
Faith and Prayer which will carry forward man 
in the sphere of moral and humane enterprise, 
as they have been the great motive powers in 
other places of religious life. 

There stands a petition in the centre of the 
Christian's daily prayer, the sum and substance 
of all, being in itself both supplication and re- 
solve, prophetic from the first of this divine union 
of piety and philanthropy, of faith and works, of 
love to God and love to man. When we say, 
" Thy kingdom come," our prayer is itself a 
prophecy of the second coming of Christ, and a 
means of accelerating it. And when we say, 



224 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

" Thy will be done on earth," we not only ask 
for the reign of truth, and love, but we devote 
ourselves to its establishment. 

These words are inadequate for the settlement 
of the great question we have been considering. 
All words are inadequate. But ewery one who, 
longing for the reign of Christ, prays the prayer 
of faith, does something to settle the question. 
He knows in his own heart the power which 
comes from prayer, and he hastens the time when 
all prayer will be also work, because work will 
be its constant fruit and issue. 

In looking forward to the days which are to 
come, when sincere and simple prayer shall thus 
fill every part of human life with beauty and joy, 
and bear rich fruit in all forms of righteousness ; 
when the departments of Christian life shall be 
no more divided, but all in harmony ; when the 
Church, being at one, can work without hinderance 
for the conversion of the world ; and when man 
shall be like the orange-tree, " that busy plant," 
bearing at the same time foliage, flowers, and 
fruit, combining the fragrance of devotion with 
ripe results in action, — we may think of Jesus as 
still speaking to the world and saying, " Hitherto 
ye have asked nothing in my name ; ask and 

RECEIVE, THAT YOUR JOY MAY BE FULL." 



CHAPTER VII. 



THE SPIRITUAL LIFE. 

^ 44. The Spiritual Life as the Source of Prayer. 

The Doctrine of Prayer has been thus far 
treated by us in its various relations. This sup- 
plementary chapter will treat of the Spiritual 
Life, which is the perennial fountain of prayer. 
We shall consider first the soul itself, its nature 
and capacities ; then treat of its hidden life, a 
life hid with Christ in God ; then describe the 
natural man and the spiritual man in their dis- 
cernment of things natural and spiritual ; then 
speak of Sin and its confession and forgiveness ; 
then of Assurance ; and, lastly, of Contentment. 
We shall thus conclude our Essay with these 
general views of the Christian life, which will 
connect our idea of Prayer with all parts of the 
culture and discipline of the soul. 



226 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

§ 45. The Soul : its Nature and Capacities, 

Among the Jews, the soul was considered to 
be, not only the principle of thought, but also the 
principle of life. We, in our philosophy, follow 
the Romans, who regarded the thinking principle 
as one thing, and the principle of life as anoth- 
er. The Romans called the principle of thought 
MENS, whence comes our word mental ; and 
the principle of life anima, whence come our 
words animation^ animated^ as when we speak 
of the animated creation. But in the New Tes- 
tament, one Greek word expresses the principle 
of bodily life, and of moral and intellectual pow- 
er. According to this, it was the soul which 
kept the body alive. Some have gone further, 
and thought that the soul formed the body ; and 
that there is a natural connection between each 
man's form and face, and the character of the 
soul ; as when Spenser says, 

" For of the soid the body form doth take, 
For soul IS FORM, and doth the body make." 

Which of these views is correct, I shall not 
now inquire. It was necessary to mention them, 
that we may understand that, when the words 
life and soul occur in the New Testament, the 
same Greek word is often used in the original. 



THE SOTTL. 



227 



But what is the soul, and what do we know 
about it ? There is something in man which is 
especially himself, and which he means when- 
ever he says " I." Of this something which we 
call " I," " Me," " Myself," we know certainly 
thus much : — Firsts that it exists. Second^ that it 
thinks, feels, resolves, and carries out its volitions 
by moving the body. Thirdly^ we know that it is 
one, — an absolute unit. It is one and the same 
thing which sees, hears, feels, thinks, resolves, 
acts, remembers the past, looks forward to the 
future, enjoys or suffers in the present. In thi^ 
respect we immediately see a difference between 
the soul and the body. The body is an aggre- 
gate of different parts or organs, and its unity is 
not simple unity, but compound unity. With one 
part of the body, we see ; with another, hear ; 
with a third, taste ; and so on. Not so with the 
soul. It is the same thing which sees, which 
hears, which tastes ; and also which thinks, loves, 
chooses. Moreover, in the fourth place, we 
know that the soul is a substance ; that is, some- 
thing permanent, remaining the same thing amid 
change. For we know that it is the same thing 
which just now felt, or thought, or listened ; and 
which now remembers, observes, or considers. 

Thus much, then, we know. To all this we 



228 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

have the testimony of our consciousness. What 
we have stated is not speculation, but certainty. 
We are certain of our own existence^ as a single^ 
thinking and feeling, permanent substance or he- 
ing. This self we call the Soul. That is the 
name which men have agreed upon. If they 
should agree to call it the body, that would not 
change any of these facts which I have now 
stated, and of which my readers are just as cer- 
tain as I am. 

What shall we say, then, to those who assert 
that the soul is the body ? — materialists, as they 
call themselves. Merely that they make an im- 
proper use of language. If they say that the 
soul is material, then they must assert that there 
is a peculiar kind of matter which has the power 
of thinking, feeling, and choosing, — a kind of 
matter, the qualities of which are not perceived 
through the senses, — a kind of matter which is 
indivisible, without parts, an absolute unit. Now 
this description is the precise opposite to all usual 
definitions of matter ; for the common definition 
of matter is. That which is perceived through the 
senses ; which is divisible ; which has parts, and 
so on. Now to call two things, which are char- 
acterized by exactly opposite qualities, by the 
same name, seems an improper use of language. 



THE SOTTL, 



229 



Of this substance — the soul — it is true we 
know nothing except its qualities, — that it thinks, 
feels, and so forth. But the same thing is true of 
that other substance, body. All we know of this 
is its qualities, as color, form, extension, resist- 
ance, divisibility, and so on. When we perceive 
color, form, resistance, we infer by a necessary 
law of the mind that there is something colored, 
hard, and the like. We perceive these sensible 
qualities, and infer material substance. So when 
we perceive thought and feeling by means of our 
consciousness, we infer, by a necessary law of 
the mind, that there is something which thinks 
and feels. We perceive these mental qualities, 
jind infer an immaterial substance. We call it 
immaterial, to indicate that its qualities are the 
precise opposite to those of matter. 

That the soul stands in close connection with 
matter, while united with the body, we admit. 
It may always stand in close connection with 
matter. That mental qualities and states greatly 
depend upon bodily qualities and states, we also 
admit. This, too, may be always the case, for all 
that we know. But to be connected with a thing, 
and to be dependent upon a thing, is by no means 
equal to being identical with it. The trunk of a 
tree depends upon the root, and the fruit depends 

20 



280 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRATER. 

upon the twig, and they cannot exist apart ; but 
that does not prove them to be the same thing. 

I have now told all that I know with certainty 
about the soul. Beyond this comes a region of 
belief ; and further out still, a region of opinion ; 
and still further, one of speculation. To these 
frontier-settlements and remote hunting-grounds 
of the intellect, I do not propose to carry my 
readers. We have journeyed thus far through a 
land of certainties. 

§ 46. The Value of the Soul^ shown ly Five 
Arguments, 

If this is the <50ul, we ask, in the next place, 
What is its worth ? What is its real value } I 
do not mean merely what is its value to our- 
selves, but. What is its value to the universe } 
What is its value in the eyes of God > 

To answer this question, it is necessary to con- 
sider more particularly the qualities of the soul, — 
its powers and attributes. One of these is that 
of growth, development, and progress. Of this 
growth or development, the vegetable and animal 
world is an outward, visible symbol. Unorgan- 
ized matter passes through changes and chemical 
transformation ; but organized matter alone grows 
by a law of development. In every seed there 



VALUE OF THE SOTTL. 



231 



lies hidden the law of especial development. 
Every seed is to have its own body. You plant 
an acorn in the ground, and you are sure that, if 
it becomes a tree, that tree will possess a certain 
kind of wood, bark, leaves, flowers, and fruit 
Why is it that, among the trees which spring from 
a million acorns, not a single tree should have 
among its million leaves a single leaf with the 
indentation or form of that of a chestnut or wal- 
nut ? Through all centuries, these seeds obey 
each its own law of development. 

A similar law, of which this is the symbol, is 
connected with the soul of man. As every seed 
has its own body, so every soul has its own law 
of development, — of growth. Each one of us is 
intended by God for a special end. Each one 
of us is meant to grow according to the law of 
his own nature. Each one has capacities of de- 
velopment which this mortal life cannot reveal, 
much less exhaust. Who knows, who can im- 
agine, what is hidden in the soul of each one of 
us ? In the great men of the world we see hints 
of what all men are intended to become and sur- 
pass. A Newton, measuring the planets ; a Her- 
schel, numbering the stars ; a Bacon, examining 
the powers of the human mind ; a Shakespere, 
Dante, Milton, Homer, exhausting worlds, and 



232 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

then imagining new ones ; an Alfred, or Wash- 
ington, making himself the father of a nation ; 
a Luther, arousing the human race with the great 
idea of freedom ; a peasant-girl going, like Joan 
of Arcj to save her country from the conquering 
armies of invaders, and saving it ; a Kossuth, 
Carrying the sorrows of his people in his heart 
from land to land, and pleading for them as if 
the woes and wrongs of all spoke in his generous 
voice ; a Socrates, consuming the last hours of 
a well-spent life in cheerful discourse, which 
foretells his future immortality by its spirit more 
than its arguments, as the glories of the setting 
sun are ominous of a clear to-morrow; — what 
are all these manifestations of human nature, but 
indications to us of powers which lie in every 
bosom ? They speak of the inherent powers, of 
the native greatness, of every soul. Were it not 
so, how could we understand them, — why should 
we admire them ? The eloquence of true no- 
bleness finds an echo in all our hearts. The 
sympathy which stirs in every soul toward great 
thoughts, great endeavors, great self-devotion, is 
the movement of a kindred power stirring within 
us, and asking room for a like development. 
When you strike a harp-string, every other harp- 
string in the room which is set to the same chord 



VALUE OF THE SOUL. 



233 



responds. When any human faculty greatly ex- 
presses itself, the same faculty hid in myriad 
hearts responds by a thrill of admiring sympathy. 

Again, the worth of the soul appears in its 
capacities, because these capacities are divine. 
A sentence full of meaning stands at the begin- 
ning of the Old Testament, — " In the image of 
God created he man." Our power of knowing 
God depends on our being made in his image. 
We ascribe to him the attributes of omniscience, 
omnipotence, omnipresence, and perfect good- 
ness. These words would convey no meaning 
to us, if there were not in each soul similar Jlnite 
capacities. We have within us ideas of truth, of 
right, of holiness, knowledge, power, love. We 
have also the idea of the infinite, the independent, 
the eternal. These ideas belong to the constitu- 
tion of the human soul. By means of them we 
know God, without them we could have no knowl- 
edge of him. The worth of the soul appears in 
this, then, that it is thus made in the image of 
God. For these ideas are native and original to 
the soul. They lie in the texture of every soul. 
They may be darkened by sin ; they may be hid- 
den by ignorance or err6r ; but they are there. 
A worldly life may conceal them, as the shadow 
of the earth eclipses the moon, but the moon is 
20 



234 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

there, though its pure, bright light is changed an! 
dimmed. So earthly mists may altogether hide 
the stars, but the mist drifts away when God's 
pure wind blows, and the stars appear again in 
their old, eternal homes. They were hidden for 
a while, but they were always there. 

Again, the worth of the soul appears from the 
fact, that it may be the temple of God. In all 
ages man has built his noblest and most beauti- 
ful edifices for the worship of God. Amid the 
eternal solitudes of Thebes still remain the im- 
mense rows of columns, miles in length, through 
which the priestly procession once marched in 
solemn pomp. At Balbec the impostal stones of 
immense size, some sixty feet long, are still sup- 
ported in the air. The most beautiful work of 
art which man has ever built was the Temple for 
the worship of Minerva at Athens. The Temple 
of the Sun at Palmyra in the wilderness, the 
caves of Elephanta in India, the pagodas in Bir- 
mah and China, the ruins of Palenque in Central 
America, the vast stones at Stonehenge in Eng- 
land, the remains of the Jewish Temple at Jeru- 
salem, and the Pantheon at Rome, are all proofs 
that man exerts his best power and genius in 
building for the worship of God. But God 
dwells not in temples made with hands. The 



VALTTE OF THE SOUL. 



285 



numan soul he has made for his temple, and there 
he desires to dwell. He dwells in the heart pu- 
rified by love. The music to which he listens 
is the melody of grateful affection. The incense 
of praise is the perfume which rises acceptably 
to him. In that temple the sermons are the 
thoughts inspired by God's own spirit ; the prayers 
are the aspirations of the soul after truth and 
holiness ; the acceptable worship is the spirit of 
Christ. 

Again, the worth of the soul is seen in what 
God has done to redeem it from sin, and to pre- 
pare it for immortality. The world itself, with 
all its contents, the whole apparatus of earthly 
life, with its joys and its trials, its labor and re- 
pose, its conflicts and vicissitudes, — for what else 
was it intended, but to develop and educate hu- 
man life and human souls ? This purpose alone 
makes human life and human destiny intelligible. 
Other purposes there may also be ; for who can 
limit the Divine Providence ? But this alone is to 
us intelligible. We can understand a little of the 
mystery of evil, when we see that evil tends to 
strengthen and educate the soul. We can com- 
prehend something of the tangled skein of his- 
tory, when we see the gradual progress wrought 
out in the culture of races and individuals, and 



236 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

all human history preparing the way for Christ. 
And, finally, in Christianity itself we see most 
plainly how God values the soul, — valuing it, 
not according to its present attainments, but ac- 
cording to its inherent capacities ; having more 
joy in the one sinner that repents, than in the 
ninety-and-nine just persons who need no repent- 
ance. The goodness of the best man is nothing, 
compared with the goodness which the worst man 
is capable of attaining. This is a point in Chris- 
tianity which we are slow to comprehend. We 
overvalue present attainment ; we underv^alue in- 
herent capability. The small house suited to 
our present convenience, and finished in a year, 
we value more than the vast palace, the enor- 
mous cathedral, the metropolitan city, whose great 
plan it will require centuries to execute. Esau, 
selling his birthright for a mess of pottage, is the 
type of those who despise the common human na- 
ture which is in every man, and idolize the talents 
of this or that brilliant person, here or there. 

Jesus did not so. Jesus reverenced the great 
nature which he saw in the soul of every man. 
Therefore he reverenced the child whose unpol- 
luted soul still beheld the face of God. There- 
fore he looked with tenderness on the sinner, — 
spoke words of loftiest truth to the most humble 



VALUE OF THE SOUL. 



237 



and called upon the common crowd to be perfect, 
as their Father in heaven was perfect. There- 
fore he demanded of all, as the only essential 
thing, to turn their faces the right way in faith, 
to have courage, to believe in God and in them- 
selves. In this conception of the possibihties of 
man, the roots of all great Christian ideas find 
nourishment. Love to God is strengthened when 
our love is not abject, but hopeful, flowing from 
the consciousness of what he has made us to be. 
Love to man is possible only when we see in 
every man the capacity of goodness, beauty, and 
power. We can love the sinner when the actual 
sin appears superficial, and the possible goodness 
radical. We can forgive an enemy when we 
see that this enemy, by means of our forgive- 
ness, may not only become our friend, but the 
friend of God. We can look on ourselves with 
humility and yet with hope, on the prosperous 
without envy, on the sufferer without too sickly 
a sorrow, on our trials with patience, and our 
successes without elation, when we consider hov/ 
little all these things are in comparison with the 
universal soul which is in all, with its boundless 
capacities, with its glorious destiny. 

And this destiny of the soul is the last proof 
of its greatness to which I would refer. There 



238 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

is, in the New Testament, a doctrine which has 
been much perverted and misunderstood, but 
which, when rightly viewed, is full of inspiration 
and encouragement. It is the doctrine of pre- 
destination ; which I would rather call the doc- 
trine of destination, as we can conceive no be- 
fore or after with God. As all things are present 
to God, he neither foreknows nor predetermines 
anything, but knows and determines everything, — 
our own choice and the Divine decree co-operat- 
ing in every act. Nevertheless, in human lan- 
guage we must speak of God's foreknowledge 
and predestination. Now, the doctrine of the New 
Testament is, that before the foundation of the 
world, God determined our destiny. How is not 
there stated. But it may be that it was by giving 
to each one of us a special nature and capacity, 
making each separate soul an individual unit, and 
arranging for each one the outward circumstances 
and events of our earthly life. It is no accident, 
but the Divine decree, which has made us just 
the beings that we are. He chose us to be such 
before the foundation of the world. He destined 
us in love to be adopted as children, through 
Jesus Christ, and brought to the heart of our 
Father. Everything, therefore, in our consti- 
tution, organization, and circumstances, has a 



VALUE OF THE SOUL. 



239 



divine meaning ; and that, a meaning of love. 
Every man is made for a special place and a 
special work, — a place which no other man can 
fill, a work which no other man can do. Some 
are made for a higher, and some for a lower 
work, but every work is divine. There is a great 
order in the universe ; and some are made to be 
greater, wiser, more powerful, more useful, glo- 
rious, and happy, than others ; but all are made 
to be equally children of God, equally near to 
their Father's heart. All is part of one system, 
and in that system nothing is insignificant. The 
greatest events in human history apparently de- 
pend on the smallest circumstances. A ray of 
sunlight breaking from the clouds and shining in 
the face, dazzling the eyes of an army, changed 
the issue of one of the great battles which have 
been turning-points in the destinies of our race. 
The safe arrival of a missionary, destined to con- 
vert a continent, may depend on the accuracy of 
a chronometer, which accuracy depends on the 
right adjustment of the smallest pin or screw. So, 
in God's universe, the most insignificant soul may 
be most significant, — essential to the happiness 
of all. Every wilfulness or sin of ours may in- 
terfere with the bliss of angels, and darken the 
light of heaven. God is glorified when we bear 



240 THE CHEISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER, 

fruit. When we are faithful, we hasten by so 
much the great consummation of all things ; when 
unfaithful, we retard by so much the redemption 
of the world. When faithful, we are at one with 
all the pure and good in all worlds, — heirs of 
God, and joint heirs with Christ. In every mo- 
ment of such fidelity is fulfilled for us the great 
promise, " All things are yours, whether proph- 
ets or apostles, life or death, things present or 
things to come." Thus each soul is destined for 
a growth and progress which shall, at the same 
time, develop more and more his individual per- 
sonal character, and unite him more and more 
^v^ith all other beings ; which shall make him 
more entirely himself, and shall unite him more 
entirely with the whole. Thus shall result, at 
last, that great concert of the universe, where 
each individual contributes a single note of music 
which, distinct in itself, yet in harmony with the 
rest, makes up the music of the spheres. 

§ 47. The SouVs Hidden Life, 

" Your life is hid with Christ in God." These 
are the words, not of the mystical, but of the 
logical Apostle. They lead us forward, from the 
view just taken of the nature of the soul, to its 
dew life hidden in Christ. This is the essence 



THE soul's hidden LIFE. 241 

of Christianity. Life, inward and hidden, the 
source of the public and open life, is the one 
thing needful to us all. I will go on to describe 
this hidden spiritual life, and to show that there 
must be such a life ^' hid with Christ in God." 
Christianity does not consist in action only. There 
must be something beside the act, and behind it, 
as its source. And this source of religion is 
something secret and hidden, — hidden in the 
depths of the soul. The river which rolls its 
sparkling w^aters in the light of day, has its dark 
fountains, hidden below the surface, somewhere. 
The plant, which spreads its leaves and hangs its 
flowers in the cheerful sunlight, has a root hidden 
below the soil. And you might as well expect 
to find a river with its springs above ground, 
or a plant with its roots all bare, as true religion 
without a secret, untold, and inexplicable source in 
the depths of the soul. The root of religion con- 
sists in deep convictions and profound feelings, — 
in convictions of God's presence, of personal ac- 
countability, of a judgment to come, of God's 
tender love to us, of the beauty of holiness in 
Jesus Christ, — feelings which no words can fully 
express, no actions exhaust. The most fervid 
eloquence, the most rapt devotion, must fall far 
»tion of unfolding the feeding which prompts it. 
21 



242 rm christian doctrine of prayer. 

There must be more behind than is told. There 
is more love in the heart than can look out at the 
eye. All language must be inadequate to ex- 
press the religious sentiment. The root may 
shoot forth from the ground, but the root itself 
must stay below. Far as the river runs, it never 
brings the spring out after it into the air. That 
must stay behind. In the same way, as long as a 
man's religion is genuine and living, so long must 
there be a secret source to it. If, then, one is 
not conscious of feeling more than he can say, — 
if he has no private thoughts and secret feelings, 
unuttered and unutterable, — then his religion has 
no root within ; it is not his at all ; it is a su- 
perficial, hearsay, borrowed thing, which he has 
picked up by the way-side ; it is a traditional, and 
not a personal affair ; flesh and blood have re- 
vealed it to him, and not his Father in heaven. 
The spirit of God has not breathed it mto his 
soul, but the words of man have taught it to his 
intellect. It is a vanity, a nothing. If a man, 
then, has no secret religion, he has no religion. 

If there were any doubt about the truth of this, 
it would be made certain by the fact, that the 
same thing is true, in a less degree, of all our 
other convictions, all our other belief. If a man 
merely receives an opinion from another, and 



THE soul's hidden LIFE. 243 



his own mind does not act upon it, work it over, 
look at it J and make it his own by reflection, it is 
not his opinion ; it does not belong to him yet ; it 
belongs to the man from whom he took it But 
if he does ruminate it and digest it in his own 
mind, this is a hidden process which he never 
can fully explain to himself or any one else. 

§ 48. A Hidden Life the Evidence of Sincerity, 

Again. A hidden life is necessary as an evi- 
dence of sincerity. 

If a man finds that he loves to talk about re- 
ligion a great deal more than to think about it, 
he ought to fear lest his supposed love for truth 
is partly a love for hearing himself talk, and for 
having others admire his fine sentiments. If he 
finds that secret prayer is not so agreeable as to 
conduct devotions at a prayer-meeting, or to join 
audibly in the responses at church, there is dan- 
ger that he loves the reputation of religion more 
than its reality. If he perceives that, while he 
is ready to put his name on a subscription-paper, 
or his money into a contribution-box, he has not 
given much in secret charity, he should dread 
lest he has been seeking the reputation of gener- 
osity, or avoiding the reproach of others, instead 
of being desirous of doing good and relieving 



244 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

misery. If he goes to church or avoids working 
on the Lord's day, or abstains from any gratifica- 
tion, or shows a respect to religion only for the 
sake of example, he should consider that to rec- 
ommend a thing to others which we do not care 
about ourselves is hardly treating them fairly. 
If, in the trying circumstances of life, the con- 
flicts of opinion, the temptations to swerve a lit- 
tle way from duty, he never steps aside to look 
at the divine standard of virtue, to ask what is 
right in itself and for ever, not what men think 
right, or what is fashionable now and here^ — if 
he never endeavors to free himself from the in- 
fluence of a worldly morality and the examples 
of the times to look at the pure morality of Jesus 
Christ by which he and all are to be judged, — he 
ought to be very anxious lest he be not wishing to 
know what is right at all, but only what is popu- 
lar ; not wishing to do what is right at all, but only 
to do what is convenient and easy. Or if a man 
professing to be a disciple of Christ finds himself 
lazily acquiescing in the views of the majority 
with regard to Christian doctrine, never testing 
his creed by Scripture nor by reason, never try- 
ing the spirits to see whether they be of God, he 
ought to suspect that he is not the disciple of 
Christ, but the disciple of Calvin, of Wesley, of 



THE soul's hidden LIFE. 245 

Priestley, and that his true place is not in the 
Protestant, but the Romish Church. Rut on the 
other hand, if he can say that he has sought 
earnestly to know the truth as it is in Jesus Christ, 
that he has endeavored to govern his conduct by 
a rule and motives not of this world, that his 
opinions and feelings are not the mere reflection 
of those of others, that his mind is something 
more than a camera obscura containing only the 
picture of what is going on about him, that his 
life is not the mere sport of external influences 
and circumstances, but that he has an inward 
life of personal convictions, principles, purposes, 
rooted deep in his soul, — if he perceives that his 
faith is dear to him, though unpopular, that re- 
ligion is a comfort to him in his secret trials, that 
he feeds on hidden manna, and has a joy with 
which the stranger does not intermeddle, — if the 
words which he sometimes utters in behalf of 
God and truth are the overflow of a full vessel, 
the gushing out of a swelling heart, — if he enjoys 
doing good though no one knows of it, and finds 
a satisfaction in righteousness, even though mis- 
understood and misrepresented, his good be evil 
spoken of, — if he can calmly bear false accu- 
sations, and patiently endure calumny, — then he 
may be at least certain that vantty and dis[»lay 
21* 



216 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

are not among the motives which actuate him ; 
he may be as sure as we can be in this world, 
where we see everything through a glass and 
darkly, even our own hearts, that his purposes 
are sincere and his piety genuine. And with 
Ibis conviction, what more can he wish ? 

§ 49. The Hidden Life known to God. 

Again. It is unquestionable that we must have 
a hidden life of some kind, either good or bad ; 
the only question is, which shall it be ? If we 
do not watch over our inward nature, attend to 
the motives which actuate us, cherish good feel- 
ings, keep our heart with diligence, — if we neg- 
lect altogether what is going on in our souls, and 
fix our thoughts only on external things, and en- 
deavor to lose ourselves in the enjoyments and 
pursuits of the outward world, — we do not there- 
by destroy the world within us. There is still a 
whole secret world there of thoughts, and pur- 
poses, and wishes, perpetually going on. Be- 
cause we do not choose to think of it or look at 
it, we do not annihilate it. Every man that lives 
must live a double life, — a life of outwaia action 
and a life of inward feeling and motive. The 
only question then is, whether he shall attend to 
this inward life and watch it and make it a pure 



THE soul's hidden LIFE. 



247 



one, or wnether he shall let it go on becoming 
more and more corrupt and foal, till the light of 
God's judgment comes, in the words of an apos- 
tle, " to judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ." 

This is the true question ; not whether ws shall 
have a hidden life, but whether we shall neglect 
it and try to forget what is within, looking not at 
the things unseen and eternal, but at those seen 
and temporal, — whether we shall suffer the in- 
ward man to perish day by day, or strive to 
make it more pure day by day. The question 
is, whether our life shall be hidden from ourselves. 
For it cannot be hidden from God. His eye is 
ever open on our heart, and our soul is ever 
naked to him. He sets our secret sins in the 
light of his countenance. He writes every 
thought and purpose which we have, be it base 
or be it holy, in his book of remembrance. The 
hidden man of the heart he sees and will judge. 
O, is it not a wonderful thing, that we should 
labor so to disguise our faults, and hide our dis- 
graces from the eye of the world ; that we should 
shrink with such fear from letting our weaknesses 
be known to others ; that we should strive so pain- 
fully to deceive ourselves, and persuade ourselves 
by all kinds of sophistry that we are pure ; that 
we should take such pains to excuse and justify 



248 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

and palliate our faults, when we know that we 
cannot hide thenn from God, and that in a very 
few years they must be known to all ? 

Yes, there is nothing which is covered which 
shall not be revealed, nor anything hid which 
shall not be known. The day is coming which 
shall try every man^s work, tear off every dis- 
guise, and show what men really are. In that 
day shall the hypocrites call on the rocks to cover 
them, and pray to be buried under the mountain 
avalanche ; — yes, to be hid beneath the burning 
waves of the lake of fire, rather than to have 
their consciences and souls probed by the keen 
ray of truth. Ah ! what a revelation shall there 
be on that day, when the Pharisees of every age 
come up to judgment, saying, " Lord ! Lord ! did 
we not prophesy in thy name, and in thy name 
cast out demons, and do all manner of wonderful 
works ? " and then shall he profess unto them, 
" Depart from me, I never knew you, ye workers 
of iniquity." But they will say, We were 
famous for our piety, we were noted for our de- 
votion, we were of the strictest sect of orthodoxy, 
our names were in public charities." " Yes, but 
your hearts were full of selfishness and sin ; you 
judged others, you never judged yourselves ; you 
plucked the mote out of the eye of your neigh- 



THE soul's hidden LIFE. 249 

bor, you suffered the beam to remain in your 
own ; you were bigoted, intolerant, uncharitable ; 
you had not the spirit of Christ, you are none of 
his." 

And in that day others shall come up, and 
hope to be saved because of their good works; 
and they shall say, " Lord, we were accoufiteci 
jttst and good men ; we paid our debts, we told 
jie truth, we gave to the poor ; no man can ac- 
cuse us of any wrong." " Ah ! " but the Lord 
f^iii say, " your goodness was a shadow, it rested 
3n the opinion of men ; you wished to be popular, 
and to have the reputation of virtue and its ad- 
vantages, but you never judged yourselves by 
any purer standard ; you washed your hands, but 
you did not wash your hearts ; your goodness was 
hollow and selfish, it had no root within ; there 
was no deep conviction, no living faith, no real 
charity, in your souls ; depart." 

So shall it be with the self-deceivers and the 
hypocrites on that great and terrible day. But 
ye, pure children of God, who hungered and 
thirsted after real righteousness, who judged your- 
selves daily by the high standard of holiness, 
whose struggles and prayers and tears no man 
ever knew, whose secret acts and words of love 
were unrecorded by human pen, unuttered by 



250 THF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF FRAYES. 

human lips, blazoned on no stately monumpr 
ye who suffered wrong patiently, looking fo^ 
recompense hereafter ; ye weak ones, thrust as^de 
and trampled under foot by the men of this world , 
ye solitary ones, living in the by-ways and hedge? 
of life, and offering your Master the two mites 
which was all that you had, bringing ointment to 
anoint his feet, when you could do no more for 
him, — ye shall not fail of your reward ; your life 
is hid with Christ in God ; but what is hid shall be 
known, and in the day when the paraded virtues 
of this world shall fade beneath the scorching beam 
of the great judgment, you shall sit on thrones 
and shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of the 
Father. The hypocrites and the hollow-hearted 
have had their reward ; they loved the praise of 
man better than the praise of God, and they ob- 
tained it. They have had in their lifetime the 
good things they lusted after. They lived in the 
smooth element of plausibility, they were popular 
everywhere, for they took care never to run 
counter to any prevailing prejudice, never to lift 
up their voices against any prevailing sin. Rather 
they busied themselves in seeking arguments to 
protect sinful usages against the rebuke of Christ, 
and to rock asleep the half-awakened conscience 
by sweet songs of smooth morality. They were 



THE SOTTL^S HIDDEN LIFE. 251 



Willing to 

" Torture the pages of the blessed Bible, 
To sanction crime, and robbery, and blood, 
And in oppression's hateful service libel 
Both man and God.'' 

They told pleasant truths in a pleasant way, and 
of unpleasant ones they said nothing. These 
men were never found with the minority, strug- 
gling to open men's eyes to prevailing abuses ; 
always in the self-complacent majority, willing to 
let everything remain as it was. And so they 
fell asleep amid the murmuring praises of a world 
always willing to praise those who let it go its 
own way unreproved ; and so they were followed 
to their graves by pompous processions, and eulo- 
gies and harangues innumerable were uttered over 
them. 

Otherwise was it in life with the man who car- 
ried his conscience into his conduct, and his heart 
on his lips. Otherwise was it with him ; for him 
was ordained a burden of unsuccessful labor for 
truth ; to be scouted at and ridiculed, and stoned 
and persecuted ; to be misunderstood and mis- 
represented ; to make, indeed, a few warm friends, 
but also many loud enemies ; to be despised and 
rejected of men ; or at best, never to have his 
sincere virtues appreciated, never to win popular 



252 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER 

applause or fame. He cared not for it, however ; 
he went his own way ; he knew the Lord was on 
his side ; he knew that good men must be his 
friends, if not now, by and by. He spoke what 
seemed to him to be the truth, whether men 
would hear or whether they would forbear. He 
had delivered his own soul, and he left the rest 
to God. 

" He came, and, baring his heaven-bright thought, 
He earned the base world's ban j 
And, having vainly lived and tanght, 
Gave place to a meaner man." 

No pompous procession followed him to the nar- 
row grave where he was laid to repose ; but the 
faithful feet of those whom he had comforted 
and taught and strengthened sought it day by 
day, 

" And childhood's tears, like summer rain, 
Quickened its dying grass again.'* 

And so they lie, side by side, the plausible man 
of the world and the man whose life was hid 
with Christ in God. So they lie, waiting for 
the resurrection. 



SPIRITUAL DISCERNMENT. 253 



^ 50. The Natural Man does not discern Spirit- 
iial Truth, 

The saying of the Apostle, that " the natural 
man receiveth not the things of the spirit of God, 
for they are foolishness unto him ; neither can he 
know them, for they are spiritually discerned," — 
has been thought to be difficult and made difficult ; 
nevertheless, it is in itself perfectly simple and 
intelligible. 

When a doctrine is preached which seems con- 
tradictory to reason and common sense, and we 
object to it on that ground, we are often told that 
it is our carnal reason which is offended, and then 
this text is quoted, as though it meant, " No one 
who has not been miraculously converted can 
comprehend the doctrines of Christianity." 

But to this view there are serious objections. 
If we cannot understand Christian doctrines until 
we are converted, it would seem to follow, that 
we never can understand them at all. For these 
doctrines contain the very truth which is intended 
to convert us, and except we understand that truth, 
it can have no power over us. The doctrines of 
Christianity are intended to bring men to repent- 
ance ; but except they are understood, they can 
never produce this result. 

22 



254 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

Tf, therefore, this explanation is not the truf* 
one, what is the real meaning of the passage ? 

It is usual for preachers to divide men into two 
classes, the converted and the unconverted, the 
penitent and the impenitent, the saints and the 
sinners. And no doubt there is a foundation for 
this distinction. But the Scripture also divides 
men into three classes, according to its threefold 
distinction of man into Spirit, Soul, and Body. 
This distinction, almost universal in ancient times, 
considered man in his central, essential being as 
A SOUL ; finite, individual ; a pure unit, or monad ; 
indivisible, and containing in itself personal iden- 
tity. This soul, or Psyche^ the central element 
in man, is connected by the spirit with eternity 
and God, by the body with sense and time. Now 

the spiritual man " is he whose soul is turned, 
through the spirit, to eternity and heaven. The 
carnal man is he whose soul is turned, through 
the body, to sensual gratification. But besides 
these two positions, there is a third, namely, that 
of the man who is neither carnal nor spiritual, — 
not immersed in appetite, nor conversant with 
God, or eternal truth. Such a man is called, in 
the New Testament language, the natural man ; 
in the original, the psychical or soul man. This 
man's position is that of the great majority of 



SPIRITUAL DISCERNr»IENT. 



255 



human beings. They are not religious, they are 
not sensual. They occupy, therefore, that mid- 
dle ground, which, for want of a better name, 
we call worldliness. Their purposes, occupa- 
tions, and enjoyments are all worldly, limited to 
the present life. There is nothing necessarily 
vicious in their conduct. They conform, in out- 
ward behavior and inward purpose, to the wwld- 
ly standard of morality and propriety. They 
are not infidels. They willingly receive Chris- 
tianity as a divine revelation. But practically 
they are controlled by worldly ideas ; practically, 
Christ is not their king, God not in their thoughts, 
eternity and heaven are things impalpable and 
afar off. While the spiritual man believes spirit- 
ual truth, loves spiritual happiness, and pursues 
spiritual improvement, and while the carnal man 
believes in material things, enjoys sensual grati- 
fication, and labors for sensual happiness, the 
natural or worldly man is guided in his mind 
by the opinions of the world, loves in his heart 
the honors and successes of the world, and 
makes it the object of his efforts to obtain 
them. 

The assertion of the Apostle, therefore, is this : 
that the worldly man, who is leading a worldly 
life, is unable, while in this state of mind, to see 



256 THE CmiSTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 



the reality of spiritual things ; that they must 
seem to him foolish, impracticable, and visionary- ; 
and that the only way to discern them is by 
means of spiritual experience. In other words, 
the worldly man cannot, by means of mere intel- 
lect, know God or believe in Christ, or heartily 
accept the truths of the Gospel. He asserts, 
therefore, that a spirhual preparation is neces- 
sary- in order to discern spiritual truth. Xow I 
shall endeavor to show that this doctrine is unob- 
jectionable, because it accords with common sense 
and the laws of human nature ; that it is certain, 
because it accords with experience ; and that it is 
a truth of the greatest importance in its various 
applications. 

This doctrine accords with common sense, and 
the laws of human nature. Common sense teaches 
that ever\^ kind of truth has its appropriate evi- 
dence. Thus there are truths of the material 
universe, and their appropriate evidence is the 
experience of the senses. This evidence, again, 
is subdivided. The appropriate evidence of visi- 
ble things is sight ; of tangible things, touch ; of 
audible things, hearing ; and so forth. 

Now suppose a man should say, " I will not 
believe in the sun^ unless I can touch it ; I will 
not believe in the wind, unless I can see it ; I will 



SPIRITTTAL DISCEHNMENT. 257 



not believe that the rose has perfume, unless I can 
taste it ; I will not believe in the sound of a cannon, 
unless I can hold it in my hand." " Why," you 
would say to him, " you demand, sir, an inap- 
propriate kind of evidence, and you cannot have 
it. A sound must be audibly discerned ; an ob- 
ject of sight must be optically discerned." 

Again, there are mathematical and logical 
truths, and these are discerned by demonstration 
or deduction. Thus the truth, that the three 
angles of a triangle are equal to two right angles, 
cannot be discerned optically, or audibly, but 
logically. We cannot taste, touch, or smell this 
tiuth, we know it by a process of reasoning. 
Yet we are perfectly sure of it, and the lives and 
property of thousands are risked every year on 
the truth of it. 

Other things are proved or discerned by testi- 
mony. Thus we all know that there is such a 
place as St. Petersburg ; we know it so well, that 
we would risk our life on the certainty of its ex- 
istence. Yet we know it, not by sensible evi- 
dence, for we have never seen it ; nor by logical 
evidence, for we could not reason out its exist- 
ence. 'We know it by the testimony of those 
who have seen it. Just so we believe in the ex- 
istence of Julius Csesar, or in the facts of the 
22* 



258 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

life of Jesus. We believe them by a chain (or 
rather a web) of testimony. 

Other truths, again, are discerned by means of 
consciousness or intuition ; for example, our own 
existence. We cannot touch it or taste it. We 
cannot prove it logically or mathematically, we 
cannot know it through the testimony of others. 
We discern it intuitively. So likewise it is with 
the other emotions and conceptions of the human 
mind, with love, hope, fear, choice, effort, justice ; 
we know all these, and distinguish them from 
each other, intuitively, — by an inward sight. 

If, therefore, there is a material world, the 
truths of which are discerned by the senses, and 
only so ; if there are logical and mathematical 
truths, which can only be discerned by demon- 
stration ; if there are historical truths, which can 
only be known by human testimony ; if there 
are moral facts and truths, which can only be dis- 
cerned intuitively by the moral consciousness, — 
it is quite in accordance with common sense, and 
the laws of human nature, that there should be 
spiritual truths, to be discerned spiritually. It is 
quite natural that those who do not exercise their 
spiritual nature should be incapable of perceiv- 
ing the facts of the spiritual world. 

For beside this law, that every kind of truth 



SPIRITUAL DISCERNMENT. 259 



has its own special organ by which it is discerned, 
there is another law, namely, that these organs 
must be exercised, in order to perform their 
function. The senses are continually exercised, 
and therefore they perform their functions suf- 
ficiently. But for finer observations, a special 
exercise is necessary. A sailor sees a ship on 
the horizon, where a landsman can see nothing. 
No one can understand the truths contained in a 
mathematical or metaphysical work, without hav- 
ing exercised his logical faculty. Our faith in 
human testimony, and in that of consciousness, 
is necessarily in constant exercise, and there- 
fore it enables us to receive and to discern these 
truths. 

And as regards the truths of the spiritual 
world, the case is the same. We are not com- 
pelled by the necessities of life to commune with 
God and immortality, and therefore these spirit- 
ual faculties may remain unexercised. If they 
are thus unexercised, we shall not be able to dis- 
cern spiritual things. Such is the common law 
of all our faculties, and there is no reason to 
think that it will fail in this case. That it does 
not fail we shall now show. We shall show that 
a worldly man does not, as a matter of fact, see 
spiritual things, and that when he talks of them, 



260 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF FEAYEK 

he is like a blind man describing a landscape, or 
a deaf man giving an account of a concert. 

The natural or worldly man cannot discern 
God. He can believe in God, or rather he can 
believe that there is a God on grounds of infer- 
ence. This is the sort of belief produced by 
the study of natural theology. It is good so fai 
as it goes. But it is a cold, lifeless, and unpro- 
ductive belief. A man born blind may believe 
that there is beauty in outward nature, in the 
face of man, in drifting clouds and falling water, 
in the smile of affection and the light filling the 
eyes of genius. On grounds of testimony he 
may be quite sure of it ; but will this belief be to 
him a source of joy and strength, as to those 
who can discern it all ? The belief of the 
worldly man in God, is like this blind man's be- 
lief in a visible world. It is quite consistent with 
practical atheism. He is living without God, and 
therefore he does not discern God. He does not 
discern God in the world, for he does not look 
for God in the world. The world is to him a 
place where he can make money, and win tri- 
umphs, enjoy pleasure, and meet with outward 
success. He fixes his eye on all its arrange- 
ments and combinations for these purposes, and 
therefore does not see the great God behind them. 



SPIRITITAL DISCEENMENT. 261 



The human eye is so constituted, that it can see 
what is near to it, or that which is distant. In 
looking at a landscape, we may look at the fore- 
ground, and so not see the background, or we 
can look at the distant horizon, and so com.pre- 
hend the whole. We may look through a glass 
at the distant heavens, or we may make the glass 
itself the focal point of vision, and so see noth- 
ing else. Now the world is such a glass. The 
devout man looks through it and sees God ; the 
worldly man sees only the glass itself. For we 
have the power of fixing the eye of the soul so 
exclusively upon the things seen and temporal, 
that w^e shall not discern anything of the awful 
eternity behind them. This the worldly man 
does, and so becomes a practical atheist, living 
without God. He does not see God in nature, 
he sees only a dead machine, ingeniously put to- 
gether long ago, and left by its maker to grind 
out what results it may with its iron mechanism. 
He sees no God in events, but only a hard ne- 
cessity or an unmeaning tangle of accidents. 
They came from nothing ; they tend nowhere. 
He sees no God in his trials or his blessings. 
He thanks himself, and not God, for his successes , 
he curses his bad luck for his losses. He sees 
no God in his human brethren ; they are animals, 



262 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

creatures of appetite and selfishness. It were 
folly to try to do them good. Such a man is in- 
capable of generous enthusiasm for right, of gen< 
erous indignation at wrong ; incapable of the in- 
spiration coming from a far-reaching hope, or a 
high devotedness to duty. For it is only the 
sight of the infinite element which can awaken 
such an enthusiasm. His world is no Switzer- 
land, where mountains soar aloft, piercing the 
sky with silver peaks, where icy rivers roll down 
their ravines, and the voice of the avalanche 
speaks in thunder above ; but it is a monotonous 
Holland, good for cultivation, well fitted to pro- 
duce cattle and potatoes, but nothing more. 

Nor can the natural man discern Christ any 
more than God. He may be a firm believer in 
Christ as an historical and supernatural person. 
He may believe his miracles, every one of them, 
and may " deal damnation round the land " at 
every doubting Thomas, who has his difficulties 
on the subject. He may know Christ according 
to the flesh ; but Christ according to the spirit, 
the real and true Christ, he cannot discern. The 
one condition of knowing Christ is willingness to 
follow him. The rule holds still, " How can ye 
believe who receive honor one from another, 
and not the honor which comes from God only ? " 



SPIRITUAL DISCERNMENT. 



263 



The sagacious and learned gentlemen at Jerusa- 
lem could not possibly discern their coming Mes- 
siah in Jesus of Nazareth, for he did not belong 
to their circles, — he was a mechanic poorly- 
dressed, and talked what seemed to them radi- 
calism, democracy, and atheism. We also find 
the same difficulty. We have surrounded Christ 
with a halo of glory, worship him as God, make 
him our Saviour in a future life, and think to fol- 
low him by going to church, and partaking of sac- 
raments. And so we do not see the real Christ 
at all, — the friend of the poor and wretched, 
whose only business in this world is to lift the 
fallen and comfort the discouraged, to manifest 
God as a father to the sinner, and to denounce 
all selfishness as on the way to the damnation of 
hell. And so it happens that people, thinking 
themselves Christians, can make it their business 
in life to make money, to make power, reputation, 
knowledge for themselves, instead of gaining the 
talent in order to use it for others. Thus the 
great mass of nominal Christians do not discern 
the true Christ, the friend of man, who taught us 
to love our neighbor as ourselves. 

Again, the natural or worldly man cannot dis- 
cern the essential thing in Christianity ; that is, its 
spiritual power, — its faith, hope, and love, — its 



264 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 



inward life, hid in the soul, making us strong, 
peaceful, and true. These things must be spirit- 
ually discerned, and the spiritual organ, by which 
they are seen, is not yet developed in the mind 
of the natural man. To him they must seem 
like mysticism, enthusiasm, fanaticism, and folly. 
To hira the essential thing in Christianity is not 
its spiritual part, its soul ; but its outward body, its 
creeds and ceremonies. He conceives a man to 
be a Christian who accepts certain doctrines, and 
goes through certain external ceremonies. If a 
man believes an orthodox creed, goes to church, 
and partakes of the Lord's supper, he holds him 
to be, in all senses, a Christian, provided his out- 
ward conduct be also decent, and he keeps himself 
out of the hands of the police. He considers it 
the object of Christianity to save us from punish- 
ment in the future life, rather than from sin in 
the present life. Faith to him is the intellectual 
reception of certain doctrines ; hope, the expec- 
tation of escaping punishment hereafter ; and love, 
some pious emotion of satisfaction in being saved 
one's self, while others are lost. Such is the 
view which the worldly man naturally takes of 
the substance of Christianity. Having no spirit- 
ual tastes or sympathies, he has no means of 
seeing its interior nature. The outside only at- 
tracts him. 



SPiniTUAL DISCERNMENT. 



265 



Finally, the worldly man cannot discern im- 
mortality, for that also must be spiritually dis- 
cerned. He accepts the fact of a future life, but 
it does not take hold of him as a reality, because 
he does not let it influence his present course. 
If he lived for eternity, he would then feel the 
eternal world always near. But he lives for 
time, and therefore knows nothing beyond. When 
he lays his friends' bodies in the earth, it is as 
though he had buried them. They are wholly 
lost to him. In the trials of life it is no comfort 
to him to think of the happy land beyond, with 
its deeper insight, its higher aspiration, its larger, 
tenderer love, its profound peace, — the land of 
reunions, where all tears are wiped away, where 
anxieties, cares, and weighty responsibilities cease, 
where Christ shall be the nearest friend, and the 
presence of God a surrounding sunlight. Death 
is to him king of terrors, associated with coffins, 
black dresses, tombs, and desolation ; not the 
angel with golden key, to unlock the low portal 
through which w^e step into larger liberty and life. 

I have endeavored to show that it is not by the 
intellectual faculty, howev,er keen and clear, that 
we perceive the things of the spiritual world. 
There is a way by which they can become visi* 
ble and real to us, and thus the source of life and 
23 



266 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRATER 

joy. It is by being willing to do God's will, and 
making it ours, that we beconae able to see them. 

They are spiritually discerned. He whose 
heart is pure sees God. He who loves goodness 
sees Christ. He who desires to do his will knows 
of the doctrine. He who lives here in this spirit 
has eternal life abiding in him, is in eternity 
and heaven now, and does not merely believe in 
immortality, but knows it. In nature he sees 
God ; in the events of history he sees Providence ; 
in sorrow and bereavement he sees a coming 
good ; in the letter of the Bible he sees its holy 
spirit ; and in the hour of death, he sees through 
its clouds and shadows the heavens open, and 
the Son of Man standing at the right hand of 
the throne of God. 

§ 51. Nature of Sin ^ and the Absence of a 
Sense of Sin, 

There is a remarkable passage in the First 
Epistle of John, which asserts, " If we say that we 
have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth 
is not in us." i This passage is interesting, but 
contains difficulties ; and it is none the less inter- 
esting on account of these difficulties. A pas- 
sage which contains no difficulty, contains little 
that we do not know already. When we meet 



NATURE OF SIN. 



267 



with a verse in the New Testament which seems 
to contradict other places, or to be opposed to 
well-known facts, or to our opinions and experi- 
ence, we may regard such a text as a field with 
treasure hid in it. That is the place where we 
are to dig, and where our labor will be rewarded 
by finding something which will be new to us. 
Let us beware how we explain away such a 
difficulty. Let us keep clear of any explanation 
commencing with the formula, " It only means " 
this or that. Let us expect that it will mean 
something important, and dig deep till. we find 
it, or see that we are unable to find it. 

The difficulty in this passage is in regard to a 
matter of fact. 

" If we say that we have no sin." This im- 
plies that we do say so, at any rate sometimes ; 
that we are either in the habit of saying so, or 
that we are in danger of saying so. But is this 
a fact? Does any one ever say, "I have no 
sin " ? Do we not all admit that we are sinners, 
that we have often done wrong, that we are quite 
imperfect ? Perhaps the majority of persons will 
admit, that, theologically speaking, they are total- 
ly depraved, in the theological sense nothing but 
sin. They will admit this very cheerfully and 
good-naturedly. I do not know that I ever met 



268 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

a man who denied that he was a sinner. I be- 
lieve that ahuost every one admits that he offends, 
in many things, against the law of right. Hence 
it would seem that the Apostle is mistaken in the 
matter of fact, in implying that any one denies 
that he is a sinnir. Here is a difficulty in the 
passage. Perhaps we may get its true explana- 
tion, by asking what the Apostle means by the 
word sin. If by sin he means one thing and 
we mean another, then, when we say that we 
are sinners in our sense of the word, we may 
nevertheless deny that we are sinners in his sense 
of the word. What, therefore, do we mean by 
sin, and what did the Apostle mean ? 

" Sin," says the New Testament, " is the trans- 
gression of the law." But what law ? There 
are various kinds of law. There is, for example, 
the law of the land^ which forbids those outward 
actions which interfere with the rights of our 
neighbor ; which forbids and punishes offences 
against person and property ; which forbids mur- 
der and theft, and the lower forms of these of- 
fences, — assault and battery, breach of trust, 
cheating, obtaining money by false pretences, and 
the like. It also forbids gross injury done with 
the tongue or pen, libel and slander, which inflict 
damage on a person in his character, personal or 



NATURE OF SIN. 



269 



social. All these offences, punishable by the 
law of the land, are properly called crimes. 

Then there are constitutional and organic laws 
of human nature, — laws written by God in the 
physical constitution of man, — laws which com- 
mand sobriety, which forbid excess, which punish 
intemperance by disease. An offence against 
these laws we call vice. It is an offence com- 
mitted directly against one's own physical well- 
being, and indirectly against the peace and wel- 
fare of society. These offences, however, are 
not often punished by the law of the land, al- 
though the amount of injuiy done to society by 
vice is far greater than that which is done by 
f.rime. 

Next comes the law of public opinion^ — a law 
varying in every community, according to its in- 
telligence and morality, requiring and forbidding 
more in one place than in another, but every- 
where requiring and forbidding more than either 
of the other laws. Public opinion, in every com- 
munity, frowns upon actions which are not crimes 
against the state, nor vices against the person. 
A man who commits neither vice nor crime may 
be avaricious, hard-hearted, brutal, insincere, care- 
less, ill-tempered, and so be condemned by public 
opinion. Offences against this law we will call 

23 • 



270 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

improprieties. The conduct of the man who 
commits them may be neither criminal nor vi- 
cious, but it is improper. 

Next comes the law of conscience^ varying in 
every man according to his knowledge and cul- 
ture, but usually requiring more and forbidding 
more than any of the others hitherto mentioned. 
A man may satisfy the law of the land, he may 
not offend the physical laws of his own constitu- 
tion, he may satisfy the law of public opinion, 
and yet not satisfy himself. He commits neither 
crime, nor vice, nor impropriety, but he offends 
his own conscience, he violates his own resolu- 
tions and purposes, he does not come up to his 
own idea of duty. 

Now this violation of the standard of right is 
what people usually mean when they say that 
they are sinners. They do not quite come, up to 
their own ideal. They fall short of what their 
own reason and sense of right demand of them. 
They do something, but they ought to do more. 
By sin, therefore, they mean imperfection. 

But was this all that the Apostle meant by sin ? 
I think he meant more. It was not merely the 
violation of the law of conscience, which demands 
improvement, but of the Christian law, which de- 
mands love, — of that law which says, " Thou 



IGNORANCE OF SIN. 



271 



shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, 
and thy neighbor as thyself." x\ccording to the 
Apostle, the essence of sin was not in the out- 
ward act, but the inward selfishness. It was in 
the absence of love. 

This is the kind of sin which we are very apt 
to forget or ignore. This love is the one thing 
needful. " He who loves is born of God," and 
" he who is born of God doth not commit sin." 
But " he who loveth not, knoweth not God," and 
" abideth in death " and fear and weakness. If 
therefore we do not feel this want of love, we 
feel really that we have no sin^ for we ignore the 
very fact which makes the essence of sin. 

§ 52. How Men say they have no Sin. 

We may now see how it is that this inward 
ignorance of sin may express itself in outward 
conduct. There are various ways in which men 
express themselves. We may say things in words, 
in looks, in actions, ui omissions. We may even 
say one thing in word and another thing in action ; 
and in this case, according to the proverb, the 
action speaks louder than the word. We may 
thus contradict ourselves without knowing it, or, 
as the Apostle says, " deceive ourselves." We 
deceive ourselves, not others. We do not deceive 



272 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

man, we cannot deceive God. What we say with 
our lips, is what we think we believe, — we be- 
lieve it with our superficial opinion, — we believe 
it in the upper strata of our mind. But, mean- 
time, it may easily be that we think the opposite 
in our deepest conviction, — a conviction so deep 
that we are not aware of it ourselves. But this 
deeper conviction will also express itself, not in 
our words to be sure, but in our conduct, tone, 
manner. Thus it will often happen that a man 
will say one thing, and think it too, with his su- 
perficial thought, whi-le he is saying the exact op- 
posite with the deeper stress of his inmost nature, 
will, heart, and conduct. 

Thus, to give a familiar instance, many a 
man says he is a democrat. He professes to be 
one, and thinks he is one. He belongs to the 
democratic party ; votes the democratic ticket ; 
makes democratic speeches ; perhaps declaims 
loudly in favor of human rights and universal lib- 
erty, and against aristocracy and monopoly. But, 
meantime, in Ms heart he is just the opposite ; 
he is a thorough aristocrat ; he really wants 
only freedom for himself, monopoly for himself, 
wealth, station, office, power, for himself. Give 
him these, and he directly shows himself to be 
an aristocrat of the first water, having no sym* 



IGNORANCE OF SIN. 



273 



pathy at all with the poor and oppressed. Yet 
he did not know that this was his character ; he 
thought himself a democrat. But while his opin- 
ions and words said that, his conduct said that 
his deepest conviction was quite other. 

There are then two ways of saying a thing. 
We say with our lips what we think we believe ; 
we say with our conduct what we really believe. 
Who, then, are they who say with their conduct 
that they have no sin ? 

The Pharisee says, I have no sin. The Phari- 
see is the man who substitutes the body of relig- 
ion for its soul, who substitutes outward goodness 
for inward goodness. The Jewish Pharisee sub- 
stituted ceremonies and ritual service for justice 
and mercy. He stood by himself and prayed, 
and said, God, I thank thee that I am not as other 
men are. He had made clean the outside of 
the cup and the platter, and he did not remember 
that it might be full of evil within. He believed 
himself to be a very good man, and was so be- 
lieved to be by others. But Jesus said that he 
was a hypocrite, and showed him the inward 
blackness of his heart. Now there are Christian 
Pharisees as well as Jewish Pharisees, and their 
character is the same ; the distinctive trait be/ing 
that they make goodness an outside thing al- 



274 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 



together. For Christianity has a soul and a 
body. Its soul is Truth and Love, its body is 
the outward manifestation of Truth and Love 
in the form of churches, ceremonies, worship, 
creeds, sacred books, sacred days, sacred places, 
sacred speech and action. When we lay an 
exclusive stress upon the soul of religion, and 
forget and neglect the body of religion, we 
become mystics. When we lay an exclusive 
stress on the body of religion, and forget the 
soul, we become Pharisees. We also see that 
there may be various kinds of Pharisees. There 
is the ceremonial Pharisee, to whom the out- 
ward church and visible worship is the whole of 
religion ; there is the orthodox Pharisee, to whom 
the true creed is the essential thing in Chris- 
tianity ; and there is the moral Pharisee, to whom 
the outside of decent moral conduct makes the 
whole of religion. But all these Pharisees agree 
in thinking themselves free from sin. As a mat- 
ter of form, they may call themselves sinners, 
but they do not really believe themselves so. 
The ceremonial Pharisee regards as sinners the 
non-professors, — the world's people, — those who 
laugh and dance and make merry, — those who 
do not belong to the true Church, — heretics and 
dissenters. He knows no sin but ceremonial sin, 



IGNORANCE OF SIN. 



275 



and that lie does not commit. So he says, * 
have no sin. In like manner the orthodox Phari- 
see, who makes Christianity consist in believing 
the right creed, considers himself free from sin 
so long as he holds the true doctrine. If a dying 
man mutters something about atonement and the 
blood of Christ, he immediately concludes that 
everything is right. He may himself have noth- 
ing of the spirit of Jesus ; he may be hard, un- 
forgiving, and full of inward evil, yet he does 
not notice this, but is only anxious to keep hold 
of the sound letter of doctrine. But there is an- 
other kind of Pharisee, to whom Christianity con- 
sists in decent outward conduct, in good behav- 
ior, no matter what is its motive. Now, as their 
deportment may be very fair, and as the world 
does not condemn them, they really regard them- 
selves as free from sin, only a little imperfect, 
not as good as they might be. They have never 
seen their inward bondage to the law of self. 
And when they speak of sinners, they mean 
drunkards, and robbers, and characters of that 
class. All of these three kinds of Pharisees say, 
by their spirit and conduct, that they have no sin. 

Again, the unforgiving man says, I have no 
sin. I once heard of a New Zealand chief, who, 
when ho recited the Lord's prayer, always said, 



276 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

Forgive us our trespasses, though we do not 
forgive those who trespass against us." That 
was at least honest and frank. But when we, 
who know what the Christian rule is, are harsh, 
relentless, and unforgiving, we show that we do 
not really believe ourselves to be sinners. For 
the consciousness of our own inward emptiness 
and evil would make it impossible to look with 
severity upon the faults of others. . 

Again, he who excuses or justifies himself says 
virtually, I have no sin. The habit of making 
excuses is opposed both to humility and to truth- 
fulness. It is a region half-way between the land 
of truth and the land of falsehood. A ver^' 
truthful person never makes excuses, for this 
turns away the attention from the main point at 
issue, and confuses, more or less, moral distinc- 
tions. But he who has acquired the habit of 
making excuses, systematically looks away from 
his own wrong act in his search for extenuating 
circumstances. These circumstances can always 
be found. For no one ever acts without tempta- 
tion, and the temptation is made the excuse. So 
that at last the person who makes excuses never 
feels himself to blame for anything, because there 
was always some temptation to which he yielded. 
Thus all sense of sin disappears out of the mind, 



IGNOKANCE OF SIN. 



277 



and instead of feeling guilty, one comes to feel 
as if he were the injured party, as if he ought 
rather to be pitied than to be blamed, and as if he 
had a right to complain of Providence, and be 
angry with the Almighty, for exposing him to 
such temptations. Thus a habit of making ex- 
cuses is the same thing as saying, I have no 
sin, and is inconsistent with strict truthfulness, 
concientiousness, and humility. 

Again, a man who does not watch — the care- 
less man — says, I have no sin. For a sense of 
danger makes us watchful. Few men sleep quite 
as soundly in a steamboat on the Mississippi, as 
they do in their own bed at home. When an 
enemy is near, we place sentinels and establish 
outposts and keep on the alert. If we have a 
powder-magazine, we are careful to protect it 
against fire and lightning. Those who live near 
Vesuvius watch the sounds and the vapor and 
smoke which come from it, lest, on a sudden, 
its serene quiet may be changed into destructive 
activity. "But we who have within a sleeping 
volcano of passions, tendencies to selfishness and 
worldliness, and the love of money, of power, of 
pleasure, which may bprst forth and sweep us 
away as others have been swept away, — how 
is it possible for us to be careless.? If we do 
24 



278 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAIER. • 

not watch, it is because we do not realize this 
danger, nor believe that we have such tendencies. 
In other words, it is because we say, VVe have 
no sin. 

Again, the man who does not pray says, by 
that conduct, I have no sin. Whenever we are 
conscious of danger and evil, we instinctively 
cry for help. In the moment of shipwreck, even 
the atheist cries out to God, and the blasphemer 
turns from cursing to prayer. I never yet saw a 
person on a death-bed who was not glad to have 
me pray with him. In that solemn hour, moving 
on every moment, with irresistible stress, toward 
the great change, those who were in life the 
most worldly wish to pray. They forget all 
their old theories about the uselessness of prayer. 
A profounder instinct sweeps away these objec- 
tions. And, in like manner, many persons in 
life never pray in earnest until they become con- 
scious of sinfulness. The awakened sinner cries 
out to God. It is impossible to bear the burden 
of conscience without praying. And therefore, 
if one does not pray, it is evident that he does 
not believe himself seriously and really a sinner. 
This is the way men say they have no sin. 



CONFESSION OF SIN. 



279 



§ 53. Confession of Siw, and its Results. 

We now ask, in the frst place, What is 
Confession ? And, in the second place, we must 
ask. How does it procure pardon and salva^ 
Hon ? 

Confession^ certainly, does not mean merely 
saying that we are sinners. A person may no 
doubt repeat the Litany, and call himself a mis- 
erable sinner ever so often, without really con- 
fessing his sin. He must not only call himself a 
sinner, but also see that he is a sinner. That is, 
he must be his own judge, critic, and censor, — 
keep an eye upon himself, — have a true standard 
of action before his eyes, and walk according to 
it. All this is implied in the sight of our sins. 
But there is something more implied in confes- 
sion even than this. It is not enough that we see 
our sins and admit them. True confession also 
implies that we feel them. A merely intellectual 
recognition may be cold. It is necessary to re- 
alize the sinfulness of sin, to see that it is really 
SIN, not merely folly or fault or imperfection ; to 
see it as something odious and detestable. For, 
otherwise, we do not see it as sin at all, — not as 
an offence against God, but only as something 
injurious to ourselves or to our neighbor. 



280 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

We may therefore define confession as con- 
sisting of three parts. First, the sight of our 
sins. Second, the feeling of their sinfulness ; 
and, in the third place, some kind of utterance^ 
manifestatio7i^ or expression of this conviction 
and feeling. 

And yet, now that we have thus made out our 
definition, it would seem to be inadequate. For it 
does not satisfy the very first illustration which 
occurs to us. Consider the case of Peter and 
that of Judas. Peter denied his Master ; Judas 
betrayed him. But Judas, when he found that 
his Master w^as condemned, repented himself, we 
read, and brought the thirty pieces of silver to 
the chief priests and elders, saying, ' I have 
sinned, in that I have betrayed the innocent 
blood.' And he cast down the pieces of silver 
in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged 
himself." Now here, in the case of Judas ^ would 
seem to be fulfilled our three conditions of true 
confession. He saw correctly the nature of his 
sin, — "J have sinned^ in that I have betrayed 
the innocent hlood,''^ He openly expressed this 
conviction, both in word and action. And he 
showed the depth of his conviction by taking his 
own life. This, therefore, would seem to have 
been a true and perfect confession. And if so, 



CONFESSION OF SIN. 



281 



according to the Apostle, God was bound by his 
own faithfulness and justice to forgive Judas, and 
to cleanse him from all unrighteousness. But his 
despair shows that he was not forgiven. And if 
he had been cleansed from all unrighteousness, 
instead of taking his life, he would have devoted 
it to preaching the Gospel. 

On the other hand, there is the case of Peter. 
He does not seem to have made a true confession 
'at all, and yet he was forgiven. He saw and felt 
his sin indeed. But he made no open or public 
avowal of it. He went out and wept bitterly. 
But he did not retract his denial, or declare man- 
fully that he was a follower of Jesus. His sub- 
sequent life, indeed, was an open avow^al of the 
truth ; but the purpose and intention seems to 
have been, in his case, already accepted for the 
act. For we find him already, at the time of the 
resurrection, in the company of the other dis- 
ciples again, and restored to his old place in the 
Master's household. 

There is something, therefore, in true confes- 
sion, besides what we have intimated. And this 
is the spirit, which makes it a Christian confession 
or the contrary. The spirit may be either that 
of despair, like that of Judas, or of trusting hope, 
like that of Peter. And this spirit, more than the 

24* 



282 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER, 

outward manifestation, constitutes the essence of 
true confession. 

The question therefore arises, What is the 
spirit of confession ? And this is best known by 
means of illustrations. 

In the seventh chapter of Luke, there is the 
story of the woman who brought a box of oint- 
ment and anointed therewith the feet of Jesus, 
washing them with her tears, and wiping them 
with the hair of her head. She did not say a 
word, but her actions expressed the tenderness of 
her heart. The spirit of confession was, in this 
case, the spirit of love. And so her sins were 
forgiven. 

Again, in the story of the Pharisee and Publi- 
can, the Publican, who stood afar off, and did 
not lift up his eyes to heaven, and smote upon 
his breast, saying, " God be merciful to me a 
sinner," was justified or forgiven. In this case, 
his confession took an outward form, and ex- 
pressed itself in an open humility. The spirit of 
confession was here a spirit of humility. 

So, in the parable of the Prodigal Son, there 
was an open confession, accompanied with the 
signs of humility and the evidences of sincere 
penitence. The spirit of confession, in this case, 
was a spirit of humility^ repentance^ and refor- 
mation. 



CONFESSION OF SIN. 



283 



Again, in the story of the two sons, one of 
whom when told to go and work, said that he 
would go, but did not, and the other refused to 
go, but afterwards repented and went, it is ap- 
parent that the action of the last was equivalent 
to a confession that he had done wrong. In this 
case, the spirit of confession was a spirit of 

AMENDMENT. 

The spirit of confession, therefore, implies the 
presence of humility, love, and a purpose of im- 
provement. The outward form which it assumes 
may be a form of words, of silent tears, or of 
conduct without either words or tears. But a 
noble-hearted person wishes always, when con- 
vinced of error or evil, to manifest in some out- 
ward way, either by word or action, this con- 
sciousness. It is not enough that he feels con- 
vinced, he wishes to express that conviction, or, 
as we say, to unburden himself. He must do 
something to show his change of conviction and 
feeling. The simplest mode of confession is, no 
doubt, in words. Yet one may sometimes feel 
that actions will speak louder than words ; words 
are more liable to be misunderstood than actions. 
But a sincere penitence will certainly manifest 
itself in some way. It wishes to come to the 
light. It feels that it is due to truth that it should 



284 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 



bear its testimony in her behalf. If its past con- 
duct has tended to discredit justice and righteous- 
ness, it wishes now to make an open atonement, 
and to avow different convictions and ideas. A 
man may secretly change his conduct from wrong 
to right ; having wronged another, he may pri- 
vately make restitution ; but this will hardly sat- 
isfy his own conscience. It is not yet a complete 
repentance. 

We sometimes see instances of sums of money 
being returned through the post-office, or by the 
hands of a priest, to a person who has been de- 
frauded. In these cases, I think w^e feel that the 
repentance is not entire ; that there is something 
else still to be done. And this is an objection 
aorainst the whole Roman Catholic system of con- 
fession, — that it substitutes a half-confession for a 
whole one. It is a compromise with conscience. 
The man who has injured his neighbor, and has 
done harm to society in various ways, and who 
has not the courage openly to admit his faults to 
the injured pai-ty and to others, compromises by 
telling the priest, whom he knows to be bound to 
secrecy. I do not think that the absolution of 
the priest will enable him to feel that he is for- 
given by God. There is still something wanting 
to the completeness of the atonement. 



CONFESSION OF SIN. 



285 



And now we are prepared to ask, why it is 
that true confession procures pardon and freedom 
from sin ; why it is that, if we confess our sin, 
God is faithful and just to forgive us our sin. 

There is something peculiar in the statement 
of the Apostle John. It is singular that it should 
be said, that forgiveness comes from the faith- 
fulness and justice of God, rather than from the 
Divine mercy. We should have said, " If we 
repent of our sin, God is merciful and will for- 
give it." And, in fact, nothing is more frequent, 
than for theologians to argue, notwithstanding this 
text, that the sinner, even when repenting, can 
expect nothing from the Divine justice but pun- 
ishment. But the Apostle's statement is very 
distinctly to the contrary. What are we to un- 
derstand by it f 

We are certainly not to understand that con- 
fession has any magical quality, nor that this is 
an arbitrary enactment of the Divine will. God's 
justice and fahhfulness mean his fidelity to the 
laws of his own nature. It is the very law of 
the Divine nature which is pledged to the for- 
giveness of him who confesses his sin. By con- 
fession, he puts himself in accordance with the 
nature of things ; and the permanency of the 
Divine nature and government is his pledge that 
he shall be pardoned and saved. 



286 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

Jesus has declared that there is nothing cov(jred 
which shall not be revealed, neither anything hid 
which shall not be known. This is a law of the 
Divine government. Everything must come to 
the light, either willingly or unwillingly, whether 
it be good or whether it be evil. When evil 
comes willingly to the light and judges itself, it 
is confession. When it comes unwillingly, it is 
judgment. Evil must therefore either confess 
itself, or it must be judged. We feel the right- 
eousness of this, — that evil ought not to hide it- 
self for ever from the light. Our sensQ of justice 
requires that it should be exposed ; that it should 
not wear the garb of virtue ; that it should not 
seem triumphant and plausible always. In the 
case of others, we see this very plainly. When 
a bad man — a hard, selfish man — succeeds in 
his enterprises, tramples upon the rights of others 
with impunity, and acquires so much power that 
no one dares to rebuke him, but, instead, he is 
surrounded with flatterers who justify his course, 
what do we wish ? what do we demand of the 
Infinite Justice } Not, I think, punishment^ so 
much as judgment. We wish that he should 
be made to see himself as he really is, and that 
he should be seen by others as he really is, that 
he should be exposed in his true character ; and 



CONFESSION OF SIN. 



287 



that being done, we ask nothing further. We do 
not ask or wish for any punishment beyond this. 
But this we ask, not in any personal or private 
interest, but in the interests of truth and justice. 
And if, instead of this, he should come to recog- 
nize his own evil, and should voluntarily confess 
and deplore his wickedness, and make what atone- 
ment was in his power, the sense of justice will 
be equally satisfied, and we should demand noth- 
ing more. 

Now the doctrine of the New Testament teaches 
that precisely this is the law of the Divine nature 
and the Divine government. We must either 
confess or be judged. We must either see our 
sins ourselves, and show, by a change of con- 
duct and manner, that we see them, which is con- 
fession, or else we may be sure that the working 
of an inevitable law will manifest them openly, 
either in this life or in the other, to ourselves and 
to all. And this is judgment. This is the judg- 
ment of which Paul speaks when he speaks of 
the day in which God shall judge the secrets of 
men by Christ Jesus. The doctrine of judgment 
to come is a great and permanent doctrine of the 
New Testament, and is founded on the very na- 
ture of things. God is in his nature Light, es- 
sential Light. To come to God is to come to the 



288 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

Light, and to come to the Light is to come to 
God. As the seed tends to the light, as the bud 
unfolds toward the light, so the process of human 
development consists in unfolding and developing 
from within the soul all that is there, both good 
and evil. Every step in human life is a step in 
this process of development. The external world 
with its beauty and variety tempts forth our fac- 
ulties and powers. All education is the bringing 
out or educing that which is within. Labor and 
study, pleasure and pain, succGtS^ ana Failure, 
borrow and bereavement, temptation and sin, all 
reveal man to himself. If he passes through all 
these experiences in the love of truth, not de- 
ceiving himself, but judging himself as he would 
judge others, he constantly advances nearer to 
God and to eternal life. But if he says he has 
no sin, if he excuses and justifies himself, hardens 
himself against the truth, and makes his will his 
law, then he makes it necessary that he should 
be judged by that divine law of God. A judg- 
ment of shame, remorse, and anguish is the best 
thing for him who refuses to judge himself by a 
healthy and purifying confession of his evil. 

If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just 
to forgive us our sins. What is this forgiveness 
which comes as the necessary and inevitable con- 



CONFESSION OF SIN. 



289 



sequence of confession ? It is the inward sense 
of reconciliation, the taking away of all estrange- 
ment, the Father's love shed abroad in the heart, 
the removal of every inward barrier or wall of 
division. This wall of division is solely our own 
wilfulness of choice, — our determination to see 
things as we choose, and not as they are, which 
is equivalent to loving darkness rather than light. 
But w^hen we love darkness, we thereby turn 
away from God, and immediately feel ourselves 
alienated from his love and life. Our heart is 
cold and hard. We are in a far country, under a 
sense of the Divine displeasure. But when we look 
again at the truth, and by the sight and confes- 
sion of sin return to God, the barrier falls. Love 
flows in, attended by peace and hope. The day 
grows beautiful and serene, the air is filled with 
the love of God. All is cheerful, bright, and 
fair. Thus it is, that, if we confess our sins, the 
laws of the Divine nature, which are God's faith- 
fulness and justice, make it inevitable that our 
sins shall be forgiven. 

But there is one step more. The promise is 
not only that we shall be forgiven our sin, but 
also that we shall be cleansed from all unright- 
eousness. A true confession saves us not only 
from the guilt, but also from the power, of evil. 

25 



290 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

This is the great hope set before us in the Gospel, 
of an entire redemption from sin. Nor is there 
anything unnatural or arbitrary in this. The 
self-will and pride which refuse to see and ad- 
mit their evil, prevent the possibility of improve- 
ment. But the humility which opens the heart to 
God's love, which gives the peace of reconcilia- 
tion, which creates a thankful gratitude, is an in- 
finite power in the soul, of progress and purity. 
This love makes all things new, casts out all 
demons of selfishness and worldly desire, and by 
sweet gradations cleanses the soul from all un- 
righteousness, until we can say that God's will 
is ours, and adopt the language of the hymn : — 

" I worship thee, sweet Will of God, 
And all thy ways adore, 
And every day I live, I long 
To love thee more and more. 

All that God blesses is our good, 

And unblest good is ill ; 
And all is right that seems most wrong, 

If it be His dear will. 

I have no cares, O blessed Will, 

For all my cares are thine ; 
I live in triumph, Lord ! for thou 

Hast made thy triumphs mine." 



THE soul's assurance. 



291 



§ 54. The SouVs Assurance, 

Few more important questions can be asked, 
among those which have two sides, than Can 
we know that we are Christians ? Can we have 
an assurance that our sins are forgiven us, that we 
are of the Truth, that we are tiiily converted, 
really regenerated ? Can we know that wfe have 
such a measure of faith, such a degree ox relig- 
ious experience, such sincerity, such pibty, such 
holiness, that we may call ourselves th'O children 
of God ? " 

This question, I have intimated, has two sides ; 
many would, perhaps, answer it in the negative ; 
I answer it unhesitatingly in the affirmative. I 
believe, not merely that we can have this assurance 
of heart towards God, but that we ou^^^ to have it, 
and that there is some serious defect in our relig- 
ious experience, or some sad error in our niode 
of thinking, if we are destitute of this confidence. 
If we do not know that we are Christians, it is 
eithar because we really are not Christians, or 
because we have been taught that we cannot know 
it, and so have left off tr^nng to know it. I wish 
therefore to show that every true Christian can 
know that he is a true Christian, and ought to 
know it. 



292 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

I do not mean that we ought to think ourselves 
very good ; the better a man is, the more he sees 
of his defects and sins. I do not mean that we 
should believe ourselves very religious, holy, or 
pure ; if we are so, we shall see how little it all is 
compared with what we ought to be. Nor do 1 
mean that we can or ought to feel sure of salva- 
tion, — sure of going to heaven. As long as we 
live, we are in danger of falling ; as long as we 
live, we must work out our salvation with feai 
and trembling, and give diligence to make our 
calling and election sure. Nor do I mean to say 
that we can be sure of being right in our religious 
opinions ; I wish to open no door for dogmatism. 
People often say, " I am sure I am right, and 
that 's all I want to know about it." But this 
assurance of which I speak, does not relate to 
opinion or belief, — it is an assurance of the heart 
before God, not of the head; Of this other kind of 
assurance, which leads people to think their creed 
certainly right, they have quite enough already. 

But what I mean is briefly this, — that we can 
be sure that we are on the right way ; not sure 
that we have attained salvation, but sure that we 
can attain it ; not sure that we have attained all 
truth, but sure that we see the essential, central, 
fundamental truth ; not sure that we love God 



THE SOITL's assurance. 



293 



with all our heart, but sure that we do love him 
sincerely and really ; not sure that we are obe- 
dient in all things, but sure that it is our aim and 
purpose to obey ; not sure that our faith and peni- 
tence are what they should be, but that we have 
the germs of true penitence, and the seeds of a 
right faith. We may know that we have passed 
from death unto life, — know that, whereas we 
were once blind, now we see, — know that we 
are sincere in our purpose and our effort, and that 
we have a peace and a joy within, from commun- 
ing with God, which cannot be taken from us. 

I do not mean that we can have this assurance, 
except we seek for it by self-examination and 
prayer and solitary determination. It is not a Hind 
confidence, but an intelligent and thoughtful faith, 
— a faith in ourselves, which has its root in a faith 
in God. Such a faith as this is both possible and 
very desirable. 

It is possible for us all to have it. Yet some 
will say. No, it is not possible. " A person may 
be deceived," they say; "he may thmk he is 
actuated by high motives, when in reality he is 
influenced by low ones ; he may think he loves 
God, when in fact he- is a formalist. Do we not 
see instances of this every day ? If one may be 
self-deceived, so may another ; so may all of us. 
25* 



294 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 



We may all think that we are really Christians, 
when we are not." 

In reply to this I say, Undoubtedly, persons 
are deceived in this manner about themselves, 
continually, and undoubtedly we may be also. 
But that is not the question ; the question is. Need 
we be deceived ? Must we be deceived ? Is it 
not our own fault if we are ? Is it not because we 
do not endeavor to be undeceived, — because we 
are not strict with ourselves, but take it for grant- 
ed, as a matter of course, that our hearts are right, 
when we have no evidence of it at all ? 

Most of us deceive ourselves about our abilities, 
or our knowledge, or our attainments ; but we 
need not deceive- ourselves. It is in our own 
power, if we choose to understand ourselves aright 
in these particulars. Just so, I admit that we are 
very much in the habit of deceiving ourselves 
about our spiritual condition. But what I contend 
for is, that we need not do so. It is possible for 
all of us to say with the Apostle, " Hereby know 
we that we are of the Truth, and assure our 
hearts before Him." 

But it may be said, " Does not the Bible de- 
clare that the heart is deceitful above all things, 
and desperately wicked, — who can know it " 
I reply, the heart is deceitful, — I admit it; but to 



THE soul's assurance. 



295 



the question, " Who can know it ? " I answer, God 
can know it. His eye can see into the deepest re- 
cesses of our soul, can trace every winding of our 
heart ; and what he sees, that he can reveal. And 
that is the way, and the only way, by which we 
can truly know ourselves, by communion with 
God. It is " his spirit that beareth witness with 
our spirit, that we are the children of God." 
There is a voice of God which speaks in our soul, 
to condemn or to acquit us, and whenever we 
choose to come out from the bustle of our noisy 
life, and look into ourselves, we can see what is 
the language of that voice. What did Paul mean 
when he said, " Herein do I exercise myself, to 
have always a conscience void of offence toward 
God and toward men " } Was it not possible for 
him to know whether his conscience was void of 
offence } What did he mean by saying, " My 
conscience bearing me witness in the Holy 
Ghost," — by " having peace with God through our 
Lord Jesus," — by "having the love of God shed 
abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost," — or by 
exhorting believers to " draw near to God with a 
true heart, in full assurance of faith " ? In fine, 
except it be possible to know that we are Chris- 
tians, who has a right to any of the promises ad- 
dressed to Christians in the New Testament : 



296 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

If, then, it be possible to have this assurance, 
certainly it is also very desirable to have it. On 
this point let us dwell, for I think that many 
do not sufficiently perceive the vast spiritual 
advantage which comes to us from a cheerful, 
confident faith, and a well-founded, intelligent 
hope ; nor do they understand the spiritual weak- 
ness which is the sure result of perpetual anxiety 
and doubt concerning our own inward condhion. 
It seems to me to be the one essential blessing of 
Christianity, that it can inspire this confident trust 
in the love of God ; that it can clear away all 
doubts, ease the pangs of sin, extinguish the ag- 
onizing fires of remorse, and open a path from 
earth to heaven before the feet of the just, — a 
path shining more and more unto the' perfect day. 

We are saved hy faith. This is the great as- 
sertion, for ever true. It is faith which saves the 
soul, — faith in God, in truth, in goodness, in the 
power of love, — yes, faith in ourselves. It is faith 
which saves us ; not the faith of the theologian, 
reasoning out his sublimely subtile and incompre- 
hensible dogmas, not the cold belief of the bigot 
in his dusty creed ; but the faith of the martyr, up- 
borne amid the flames by confidence in a great 
principle, — the faith of Stephen, to whom, as the 
earth was closed, the heavens were opened. 



THE SOTTL's assurance. 



297 



*^ He heeded not re^-iling tones, 
Nor sold his heart to idle moans, 
Though cursed, and scorned, and bruised with stonea ; 

But looking upward, full of grace 
He prayed, and from a happy place 
God's glory smote him on the face." 

Nothing but such a faith as this, — a sight of 
spiritual things, a clear inward knowledge of 
God's love, an assurance of pardon, and of an 
ever-present divine help, — nothing but this could 
have criven the earlv Christians strength to strug- 
gle against the stormy ocean of opposition and 
hatred which raged around them. Xo mere be- 
lief in Christ founded on argument or evidence ; 
no strong probability that he was from God ; no 
weight of logical demonstration ; no speculative 
persuasion of the truth of Christianity ; no hope of 
a future heaven, a distant immortality, and a final 
rescue from sin, — could have enabled them to 
withstand the fearful pressure which bore upon 
them from all quarters. The rancorous hatred of 
the Pharisees, and the iron arm of Rome, were no 
mere probabilities ; the dungeon, the cross, the 
scourge, were no matters of speculation, belief, or 
logic ; slander, abuse, the alienation of friends, the 
triumph of foes, — these were not distant expec- 
tations, they were all stern daily realities. To 



298 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 



resist them was needed, not a vague belief, but an 
assurance, a knowledge, a personal experience of 
spiritual joy. This was given, and in the strength 
of this faith, in the consciousness of a heavenly 
inheritance, a divine friendship, and a present sal- 
vation, all external trial became as the light dust 
of the balance. This faith in a love of God, 
which they had seen and felt, not which they 
hoped for, — this it was which was the strength 
of the early Church. 

We need no less now. We need to knoic that 
God loves us ; we need to be sure that we are in the 
right way ; we need to feel that our sins are for- 
given, and that we are the children of God. With 
such a conviction clear and strong in our hearts, 
duty is pleasure, trial is happiness. Without it, 
how hard to struggle against sin, how hard to 
make daily resolutions, strive with daily tempta- 
tions, begin continually an ever-recurring war- 
fare ! It is too discouraging ; sooner or later we 
must give up in despair. 

Still it may be objected, Is there not danger 
of encouraging false hopes, self-righteousness, and 
presumption, by this doctrine } Are not humility 
and self-distrust recommended in the Xew Testa- 
ment } Was not the Pharisee who thought him- 
self good reproved, and the publican who saw 



THE soul's assurance. 



299 



his sinfulness commended ? Does not Paul rec- 
ommend, that we should not think of ourselves 
more highly than we ought to think ? " 

Certainly, we should not think of ourselves more 
highly than we ought, but perhaps neither should 
we think less highly. The New Testament 
teaches Christians to take at once very lowly and 
very lofty views of themselves, — lowly views of 
their attainments, lofty of their position and pros- 
pects ; to be humble when they look at what they 
have done, hopeful when they look at what God 
has done. The self-righteous man has a foolish 
confidence in himself the Christian a wise confi- 
dence in God ; the hope of one rests on an in- 
ward fancy, that of the other on an inward fact. 

On the other hand, the doctrine we have been 
advocating, while it is full of comfort to those 
who are ready to examine themselves, and to 
seek for the witness of the spirit, is full of warn- 
ing to those who are careless and indifferent. It 
says to them : If you do not know that you are 
Christians, there is reason to believe that you are 
not so. If you have no inward knowledge of the 
love of God, you are probably not yet a true 
disciple of Jesus. There is still a work for you to 
do : you are still to be born of the spirit, — you 
still need the baptism of the Holy Ghost. 



300 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 



But how can we attain this assurance ? The 
first thing is, to believe that it can be attained ; 
then we shall make it our object to attain it. Be- 
lieve then that you can know you are sincere, that 
you can know you are of the Truth, that you can 
know your sins are forgiven, that you can know 
that your prayers are heard and answered. To 
know that you are sincere, examine yourself, look 
inward ; see if you have any hunger and thirst 
after righteousness, see if you desire to become 
holy. If you find that you have this desire, that 
you are not satisfied with outward comfort and 
outward success so long as your soul is not right, 
then you will know that you are in earnest in the 
pursuit of a divine life. Why should not we say 
with the Apostle's boldness, My rejoicing is this, 
the testimony of my conscience, that in simplicity 
and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but 
by the grace of God, 1 have had my conversa- 
tion in the world"? Let one become assured, 
by a faithful examina-tion of his own heart before 
God, that he is sincere, and he will feel strong 
and happy. Then to know that we are of the 
Truth, — to be convinced that we have essential 
truth, that we are not following a cunningly de- 
vised fable in following Christ, — to be sure of 
this, we do not need to study books on the evi- 



THE soul's assurance. 



301 



dences of Christianity ; for these, by their own 
confession, can only give probability. But we 
dioiild tiy Christianity itself, live by it, trust in it, 
look to Christ for a revelation. Then, if we find 
that he does bring us to God, we shall be sure 
that he is a mediator ; if we find that he does re- 
veal God to us, we shall know that he was sent 
to reveal God. If we find that he is savino; us 
from our sins, giving us strength and hope, mak- 
ing the trials of this world light, and the hopes 
of the other world near, then we shall know that 
he is a Saviour. If, in fine, we are made by him 
to be at one with God, we shall be sure, without 
caring to study the controversies about the doc- 
trine of atonement, that we have the essential 
truth of it. I do not mean that investigation, in- 
quiry, and study of these subjects are unnecessary 
or unimportant, but I say that they are all secon- 
dary to the experimental knowledge of Christ, 
which comes to us from applying Christianity 
to our daily life. 

Then, once more, we need to know that our 
sins are forgiven. And how shall we know this ? 
By feeling that we have peace with God, — by 
feeling that we are able so to trust in the divine 
compassion and infinite tenderness of our Father, 
as to arise and go to him, whenever we commit 

26 



I 



302 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

sin, and say at once to him, " Father, I have 
sinned ; forgive me." To know that we are for 
given, it is only necessary to look at our Father's 
love till it sinks into our heart, to open our soul to 
him till he shall pour his love into it ; to wait on 
him till we find peace, till . our conscience no 
longer torments us, till the weight of responsi- 
bility ceases to be an oppressive burden to us, till 
we can feel that our sins, great as they are, can- 
not keep us away from our Heavenly Father, and 
are able to say, " There is now no condemnation 
to them that are in Christ Jesus." 

And, lastly, we need to know that God hears 
our prayers. It is not enough to believe that he 
does, — to think it probable. We need to know, 
from our own experience, that when we ask any- 
thing according to his will, he will give it to us. 
It is this alone which can establish and make 
strong the habit of prayer. We ought to be able 
to say, from our own knowledge and experience, 
that we shall always gain light, strength, comfort, 
and joy by drawing near to God in prayer. This 
will bind us by a golden chain of faith and con- 
fidence to the spiritual world, it will be the dear- 
est treasure of our souls, a possession of which 
no one can ever rob us, a comfort which will 
pour light on the darkest hours of life.' 



THE soul's content. 



303 



Of this let us be sure. We do not have half 
the comfort we might have in our religion, be- 
cause of a false humility, which not only distrusts 
itself, which it often ought to do, but also distrusts 
God, which it never ought to do. Because we 
have not comfort in our religion, we are also de- 
ficient in strength ; for I repeat, and wish to 
repeat, now and for ever, that faith, confidence, 
hope, and joy in God, are the sinews of all good- 
ness, the strength of all manly virtue, and that 
doubt, anxiety, fear, and inward uncertainty are 
Ihe strongest allies of whatever evils war against 
Ihe soul. 

§ 55. The SouVs Content, 

The Apostle tells us, " I have learned, in what- 
soever state I am, therewith to be content." 
But is contentment always so good a thing } 
Have we any right to be contented with every 
5tate in which we are } Ought we not often to 
De discontented } That we ought to be discon- 
tented with ourselves, with our attainments, our 
accomplishments, our efforts, our virtues, is very 
evident. Self-dissatisfaction is the spur to prog- 
ress. Kobert Hall said, " I am constantly tor- 
mented with the desire to preach better sermons 
Aan I can." Because he was so tormented, he 



304 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 



preached better sermons than any man alive. 
Paul was not contented with himself or his ac- 
complishments. Elsewhere he declares that he 
does not count himself to have attained, but, 
forgetting what is behind, he presses forward 
to that which is before. 

Yes, you may say, but what he speaks of here 
is his outward condition. He had learned to be 
contented with that ; he knew how to be full, and 
how to suffer want ; that is what he is speaking 
of, — that is the contentment he recommends. 
True, but this does not quite remove our diffi- 
culty. For the question is. Is contentment a good, 
and right state of mind, or is it not } Does the 
old poet say truly, 

*' When all is done and said, in the end thus you shall find 
He most of all doth bathe in bliss who hath a quiet mind " ? 

If contentment is a good state of mind, is it not 
bad to be discontented even with one's self.^ 
And if dissatisfaction with our attainments is a 
spur to progress and effort, is not dissatisfaction 
with our condition also a necessary spur to in- 
dustiy and labor } Where would the world, where 
would civilization be, if all men were just as 
willing to be poor as to be rich, — to be in beg- 
gary and hunger and nakedness, as in compe- 
tence, — to be destitute of the means of gratifying 



THE soul's content. 



305 



their tastes, as to possess them ? Is not the main 
difference between the highest civilization of Eu- 
rope, and the lowest barbarism of Africa, merely 
this, — that the European is constantly struggling 
to improve his outward condition, while the Afri- 
can is contented to live in a hovel, to go half- 
naked, and eat roots and fruit ? If civilization, 
culture, refinement, knowledge, are desirable, then 
the means for their attainment are also desirable ; 
and among these, none are more essential than 
dissatisfaction with our outward position, for this 
is the root and first spring of all civilization. 

We very often hear it said that the right way 
to attain contentment is to reduce our desires with- 
in the smallest limits. If we wish for very little, 
we shall be satisfied with very little. " Have 
few wants^'^'^ is preached to us continually by the 
most eminent moralists. An Italian beggar, who 
only wishes to lie in the sun and eat maccaroni, has 
fewer wants than an enterprising New^-Englander. 
Asia has fewer wants than Europe, — Africa 
than Asia. A dog has fewer w^ants than a man, 
for the savage needs a hut and some few tools 
and weapons, while the dog needs only a hole in 
the ground, and liberty to roam after his prey. 
A tree has fewer wants than a dog, for it only 
wants to stand still and have sunshine and air 
26* 



306 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 

around its head, earth and water around its roots. 
And a stone has the fewest wants of all, for it 
needs only a place to lie in. Now a system of 
morals which tends downwards in this way, and 
the legitimate logical result of which would be to 
make us wish for the condition of a stone, can- 
not be founded in truth and reason. 

Moreover, if we should reduce our desires to 
the smallest limits, and come to live a hermit life 
on a little bread and water, wrapt in a coarse 
cloth, and dwelling in a little cell, still I doubt 
if true contentment would be thereby attained. 
The discontent which quarrels with outward things 
is symptomatic. Men are discontented with their 
outward position, because they are dissatisfied 
with their inward state. They know they need 
something, and they cannot be contented till that 
something is attained ; but they think that what 
they want is a little more money, a better house, 
more praise, more power, this office, that situa- 
tion. If they have them, they will not be con- 
tented, — if they make up their mind to do with- 
out them, they will not be contented ; for the root 
of their discontent remains within their own 
mind. Like the man in a fever; who tosses from 
side to side of his couch, hoping to find an easier 
position, when the cause of his restlessness is not 



THE soul's content. 



307 



in his position, but in himself, so the discon- 
tented man will be discontented until he is cured 
of his disease. Surrounded with every luxury 
that wealth can purchase or ingenuity invent, he 
is still discontented, restless, dissatisfied ; or if 
poor and destitute, he is envious, repining, and 
covetous. Contentment comes neither from pov- 
erty nor from riches, it comes from the state of 
the soul, and flows from within out. 

The problem of contentment, then, is this, — 
to be contented with our present position what- 
ever it may be, and yet endeavor to improve it 
and make it better ; — to be contented in poverty 
while in it, and yet hope to rise above it, — to be 
contented while ignorant, and yet seek for knowl- 
edge ; ^ — to say always, " I have enough," yet be 
willing to receive more, if God sees fit to open 
the way for it ; — in short, not to lay much stress, 
one way or the other, on our outward position, 
but to have the fountain of contentment within, 
m a full and active soul. 

Such contentment is not sluggishness, not the 
contentment of a stone, not the absence of desire, 
not the insensible unprogressive condition of a 
savage. A man may be contented where he is, 
because he is conscious that he is full of life, and 
must make progress. A man may be contented 



308 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 



to be poor in this world's goods, because he is so 
rich in powers of thought and affection, capable 
of ample enjoyment in the activity of his mind 
and heart. 

True contentment is noble. It is the perfect 
poise of a well-balanced mind ; of a healthy na- 
ture ; of one who has no vague wishes, no incon- 
sistent wants ; who knows what he would have 
and how to attain it ; who can wait when patience 
is necessary and work when work is timely, not 
daunted by failure, not elated by success. Such 
content comes as the ripe fruit of long experi- 
ence. " I have Zearwe^Z," says Paul, " in what- 
soever state I am, therewith to be content." It is 
not a gift of nature or grace, not a constitutional 
endowment, but something to be acquired by 
struggle. It is not the fruit of conversion, for 
Paul, though converted, had to learn it. And 
now let us see how it is learned. 

We learn to be contented with our situation, 
when we see how independent of situation are 
all the great blessings of life, — that real hap- 
piness is not given to any select circle or private 
class. God's great gifts are Love, Knowledge, 
Truth, and Goodness, and these are everywhere, 
— they are not monopolized by any rank or sphere 
of society. 



THE soul's content. 



309 



How maijy a miserable room in our cities is 
made dear and precious by the love which in- 
habits it ! How many a splendid house is dwelt 
in by cold and un sympathizing hearts ! Which 
makes the best home, love or fine parlors ? It is 
the smile of welcome, it is the warm grasp of a 
friend's hand, it is the cordial sympathy, which 
alone makes a home out of brick and mortar ; 
and these are to be found among the rich and the 
poor alike. So it is with sagacity, knowledge, 
insight ; — ■ how little do these depend on circum- 
stances ! Sir Robert PeePs father gave his son 
fifty thousand dollars a year to begin life with ; 
Benjamin Franklin had nothing ; but both be- 
came men of rare sagacity. Universal as the air 
which enters the palace and the cottage, — as the 
sunlight which sleeps on the smoky rafters of the 
one, and illuminates the marbles and mirrors of the 
other, — love and knowledge, truth and goodness, 
find their way into the hearts and minds of men 
and women in all classes, in all situations. In 
the uneducated we often see a native refinement 
and purity which come direct from God ; often 
in the educated we find only a polished coarse- 
ness, a civil selfishness, — ^mean thoughts and low 
aims. And yet we often see among the opulent 
and fashionable less of aristocracy, and more 



810 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 



real humanity and democracy, than amotig those 
less favored, — they are simple, unpretending, 
and humble. So among the uneducated and poor, 
we find a noble dignity of character, self-respect, 
and true refinement. These things are indepen- 
dent of situation, they depend on character. 

So, too, we learn to be content where we are, 
by finding how equal are the trials of life ; 

" To each their sufferings, — all are men, 
Condemned alike to groan." 

Addison, in the Spectator, tells a dream, in which 
he imagined that it was decreed by Jupiter that 
all unhappy persons might change their troubles 
with each other. So all began immediately to 
trade away their calamities. One man exchanged 
his poverty for a fit of sickness ; one gave up 
the gout, and took instead an undutiful son. But 
very soon they found their new troubles worse 
than the old to which they had become ac- 
customed, and were very glad to change back 
again. We often see persons who seem the 
favorites of Fortune, and others who seem the 
mark for all her arrows. But when we look 
closer, we see drawbacks and compensations. 
There is always a fly in the ointment, always a 
blessing with the trial. *' We are the trees whom 
shaking fastens more." The fiery trial devel- 



THE soul's content. 



311 



ops strength and beauty in the character, just 
as the dikes of lava which broke their way- 
through the rocky strata of the earth changed 
them as they passed into beautiful marbles and 
precious gems. 

But especially do we learn to be content with 
our situation, by learning to see God in all things. 
Where we are, God has placed us ; what we have, 
God has given us. A traveller arrived at the 
gate of a town late at night, and found it closed ; 
for bands of robbers were in the neighborhood. 
" What my Father does is good," said he, fas- 
tened his horse to a tree, lighted his lantern, 
and lay down to sleep. In the night a storm 
came, blew out his light, and his affrighted horse 
broke his rein and ran away. "What my Fa- 
ther does is good," said he, and went to sleep 
again. In the morning he went to the town, and 
found that the robbers had come in the night, 
broken into it, and carried off the inhabitants. 
Had he been in it, he had been taken too ; and 
the storm, which extinguished his light, prevented 
them from seeing him. When we are able to 
say, " What my Father does is good," we shall 
have learned, in whatevei* state we are, therewith 
to be content. 

Again. By living for a good object, we learn 



312 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF PRAYER. 



to be content. The root of all discontent is self- 
love, — the root of true content is work done in 
love for true ends. He who is usefully employed 
is satisfied wherever he may be. Whether his 
work is to dig the foundation, or finish the inner 
gilding of his master's house, the consciousness 
of usefulness makes him cheerful and happy. 
While our heart is in getting, we can never get 
enough, we can never be satisfied. But if our 
heart is in giving, in doing good to others, — if 
we live for that, then there comes a healthy and 
serene cheerfulness, which spreads joy over life, 
and makes death, when it comes, welcome, though 
unwished for. 

How many there are in our community sur- 
rounded by all the comforts which life can offer, 
— health, fortune, friends, every opportunity, — 
who are yet miserable, simply because they have 
no useful occupation, — because they are not in- 
terested in any good work, doing nothing for 
their fellow-men. 

" Some murmur when their sky is clear, 

And wholly bright to view, 
If one small speck of dark appear, 

In their great heaven of blue ; 
And some with thankful love are filled, 

If but one streak of light, 



THE soul's content. 



313 



One ray of God's good mercy, gild 
The darkness of their night." 

The reason is, that the one is living for himself 
alone ; the other is living for his brother. This 
is the souPs contentment, the satisfaction flow- 
ing out of a deep spiritual life, — a life hid with 
Christ in God. This Christian contentment is 
paired with a Christian discontent, and the one 
and the other lead us to the mercy-seat of God, 
and fill us more and more with the spirit oi 

PRAYER. 



THE END. 



KD-1 7 



